Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Monrovia, Liberia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Spriggs Payne Airport (MLW), Monrovia, Liberia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,178 miles (or 5,115 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 Spriggs Payne 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 Spriggs Payne 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Spriggs Payne Airport (MLW):

• The closest airport to Spriggs Payne Airport (MLW) is Roberts International Airport Roberts Field (ROB), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) E of MLW.
• Spriggs-Payne was the primary location for domestic services within Liberia since the 1950s.
• Spriggs Payne Airport (MLW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport facility consists of a collection of small, single-story buildings.
• The furthest airport from Spriggs Payne Airport (MLW) is Nauru International Airport (INU), which is nearly antipodal to Spriggs Payne Airport (meaning Spriggs Payne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Nauru International Airport), and is located 12,009 miles (19,327 kilometers) away in Yaren, Nauru.
• In January 2011, newly-formed Fly 6ix, initially designated as the new national airline of Sierra Leone began operating from Freetown with a single Embraer ERJ-135 regional jet.
• Because of Spriggs Payne Airport's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Spriggs Payne 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.