Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Lamen Bay, Epi Island, Shéfa Province, Vanuatu:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Lamen Bay Airport (LNB), Lamen Bay, Epi Island, Shéfa Province, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,950 miles (or 16,012 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between RAF Fairford and Lamen Bay Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between RAF Fairford and Lamen Bay Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• In the early years of the Cold War the British and American governments reached an agreement under which elements of the USAF Strategic Air Command would be based in the UK.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• The furthest airport from RAF Fairford (FFD) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,898 miles (19,148 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.

Facts about Lamen Bay Airport (LNB):

• The furthest airport from Lamen Bay Airport (LNB) is Kiffa Airport (KFA), which is nearly antipodal to Lamen Bay Airport (meaning Lamen Bay Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kiffa Airport), and is located 12,408 miles (19,969 kilometers) away in Kiffa, Mauritania.
• Because of Lamen Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Lamen Bay Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• The closest airport to Lamen Bay Airport (LNB) is Malekoula Airport (LPM), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) WNW of LNB.