Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Madera, California, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from FFD to MAE:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- MAE Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about MAE
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to MAE
- List of Nearest Airports to MAE
- Map of Furthest Airports from MAE
- List of Furthest Airports from MAE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Madera Municipal Airport (MAE), Madera, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,271 miles (or 8,483 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 Madera Municipal 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 Madera Municipal Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MAE / KMAE |
Airport Name: | Madera Municipal Airport |
Location: | Madera, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°59'18"N by 120°6'44"W |
Area Served: | Madera, California |
Operator/Owner: | City of Madera |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 255 feet (78 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from MAE |
More Information: | MAE Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
- 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 Madera Municipal Airport (MAE):
- The closest airport to Madera Municipal Airport (MAE) is Fresno Chandler Executive AirportChandler Municipal Airport (Old) (FCH), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SE of MAE.
- Madera Municipal Airport (MAE) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Madera Municipal Airport (MAE) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,322 miles (18,221 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- Because of Madera Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 255 feet, planes can take off or land at Madera Municipal 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.