Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Benedito Lacerda Airport (MEA), Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,658 miles (or 9,105 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 Benedito Lacerda 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 Benedito Lacerda 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):

• 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 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• 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.

Facts about Benedito Lacerda Airport (MEA):

• Benedito Lacerda Airport (MEA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Benedito Lacerda Airport (MEA) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Benedito Lacerda Airport (meaning Benedito Lacerda Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,179 miles (19,600 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• Benedito Lacerda Airport handled 442,983 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Benedito Lacerda Airport", another name for MEA is "Aeroporto Benedito Lacerda".
• The airport was established in the 1960s as an airfield for general aviation and a Flying club.
• Because of Benedito Lacerda Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Benedito Lacerda 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 Benedito Lacerda Airport (MEA) is Umberto Modiano Airport (BZC), which is located 32 miles (51 kilometers) SSW of MEA.