Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Minami Daito, Okinawa, Japan:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to MMD:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- MMD Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about MMD
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to MMD
- List of Nearest Airports to MMD
- Map of Furthest Airports from MMD
- List of Furthest Airports from MMD
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Minami-Daito Airport (MMD), Minami Daito, Okinawa, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,372 miles (or 10,255 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 Minami-Daito 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 Minami-Daito Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MMD / ROMD |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Minami Daito, Okinawa, Japan |
GPS Coordinates: | 25°50'48"N by 131°15'48"E |
Operator/Owner: | Okinawa Prefecture |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 159 feet (48 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from MMD |
More Information: | MMD Maps & Info |
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.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- 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.
- 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 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 Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
- 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.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
Facts about Minami-Daito Airport (MMD):
- The original Minamidaito Airport began as an air base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1934.
- Minami-Daito Airport (MMD) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Minami-Daito Airport (MMD) is Kitadaito Airport (KTD), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NNE of MMD.
- The furthest airport from Minami-Daito Airport (MMD) is Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport (JOI), which is nearly antipodal to Minami-Daito Airport (meaning Minami-Daito Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport), and is located 12,411 miles (19,973 kilometers) away in Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
- Because of Minami-Daito Airport's relatively low elevation of 159 feet, planes can take off or land at Minami-Daito 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.
- In addition to being known as "Minami-Daito Airport", other names for MMD include "南大東空港" and "Minamidaitō Kūkō".