Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Marfa, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF), Marfa, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,081 miles (or 8,177 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 Marfa Municipal 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 Marfa Municipal 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.

Facts about Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF):

• Marfa Gliders offers sailplane flight training and glider rides throughout the year and hosts a soaring camp in spring.
• The furthest airport from Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,361 miles (18,283 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF) is Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport (ALE), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of MRF.
• Marfa Municipal Airport covers an area of 816 acres at an elevation of 4,849 feet above mean sea level.
• For the 12-month period ending April 23, 2007, the airport had 15,000 aircraft operations, an average of 41 per day, all of which were general aviation.
• Because of Marfa Municipal Airport's high elevation of 4,849 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MRF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MRF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In April 2008, the Marfa Airport was recognized as the 15th National Landmark of Soaring by the National Soaring Museum.