Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Mount Hotham, Victoria, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Mount Hotham Airport (MHU), Mount Hotham, Victoria, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,628 miles (or 17,104 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 Mount Hotham 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 Mount Hotham 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):

• On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Mount Hotham Airport (MHU):

• The closest airport to Mount Hotham Airport (MHU) is Bairnsdale Aerodrome (BSJ), which is located 59 miles (96 kilometers) SSE of MHU.
• One airline is looking to recommence services in 2015 with similar aircraft to those used by Qantaslink, but initially with less services.
• With massive Qantas cutbacks announced early 2014, Qantaslink will no longer serve Mt Hotham airport, meaning no more scheduled services.
• Mount Hotham Airport (MHU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Mount Hotham Airport's high elevation of 4,260 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MHU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MHU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Mount Hotham Airport (MHU) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Mount Hotham Airport (meaning Mount Hotham Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,251 miles (19,715 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.