Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Medellín, Colombia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and José María Córdova International Airport (MDE), Medellín, Colombia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,186 miles (or 8,345 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 José María Córdova 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 José María Córdova 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):

• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about José María Córdova International Airport (MDE):

• In addition to being known as "José María Córdova International Airport", another name for MDE is "Aeropuerto Internacional José María Córdova".
• The closest airport to José María Córdova International Airport (MDE) is Olaya Herrera Airport (EOH), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) WNW of MDE.
• The airport has air navigation aids such as VOR, NDB, ILS, which allows greater ease of operation for pilots making navigation and landings safer in bad weather.
• José María Córdova International Airport (MDE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport serves all major international and domestic routes in contrast to Olaya Herrera Airport which serves the Medellín area with regional flights and airlines.
• The furthest airport from José María Córdova International Airport (MDE) is Radin Inten II Airport (RIA II) (TKG), which is nearly antipodal to José María Córdova International Airport (meaning José María Córdova International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Radin Inten II Airport (RIA II)), and is located 12,361 miles (19,892 kilometers) away in Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia.
• The airport is named Jose Maria Cordova, in honor of this character, besides being a native of Antioquia and the city where the airport was built,who held senior positions in the administration, and played important roles in the history of the nation.
• Because of José María Córdova International Airport's high elevation of 7,027 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MDE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MDE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The airport has three restaurants and a shopping area, where are banks, ATMs, money exchange and car rental.