Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Kansas City, Missouri, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Kansas City International Airport (MCI), Kansas City, Missouri, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,270 miles (or 6,873 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 Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.

Facts about Kansas City International Airport (MCI):

• The closest airport to Kansas City International Airport (MCI) is Sherman Army AirfieldSherman Air Force Base (FLV), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) WNW of MCI.
• The site just north of the then unincorporated hamlet of Hampton, Missouri was picked in May 1953 under the guidance of City Manager L.P.
• Kansas City International Airport (MCI) has 3 runways.
• As a result, passenger services were nonexistent downstream of the security checkpoint in the gate area.
• The furthest airport from Kansas City International Airport (MCI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,750 miles (17,301 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• TWA vetoed concepts to model the airport on Washington Dulles International Airport and Tampa International Airport, because those two airports had people movers which it deemed too expensive.
• Kansas City International Airport handled 10,148,524 passengers last year.
• After the establishment of the Transportation Security Administration, MCI was one of five airports where the TSA has experimented with using independent contractors to provide all traveler inspector services.