Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Mbala Airport (MMQ), Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,623 miles (or 7,440 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 Mbala 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 Mbala 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):

• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Mbala Airport (MMQ):

• The closest airport to Mbala Airport (MMQ) is Kasaba Bay Airport (ZKB), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) WNW of MMQ.
• Because of Mbala Airport's high elevation of 5,454 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MMQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MMQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Mbala Airport (MMQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Mbala Airport (MMQ) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,674 miles (18,788 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.