Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Las Cruces International Airport (LRU), Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,085 miles (or 8,184 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 Las Cruces International 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 Las Cruces International 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):

• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation.
• Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.

Facts about Las Cruces International Airport (LRU):

• Las Cruces International Airport covers 2,193 acres at an elevation of 4,457 feet above mean sea level.
• The airport is used by general aviation, the United States government, New Mexico State University, private charters and the local CAP squadron.
• The closest airport to Las Cruces International Airport (LRU) is Biggs Army Airfield (BIF), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) SE of LRU.
• Las Cruces International Airport (LRU) has 3 runways.
• Because of Las Cruces International Airport's high elevation of 4,457 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LRU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LRU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The airport has two fixed base operators, Southwest Aviation and Las Cruces Aero Services.
• The furthest airport from Las Cruces International Airport (LRU) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,383 miles (18,319 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.