Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Marco Island, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Marco Island Airport (MRK), Marco Island, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,407 miles (or 7,092 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 Marco Island 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 Marco Island 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Marco Island Airport (MRK):

• The furthest airport from Marco Island Airport (MRK) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,490 miles (18,491 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Marco Island Airport (MRK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Marco Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Marco Island 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.
• The closest airport to Marco Island Airport (MRK) is Naples Municipal Airport (APF), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) NNW of MRK.
• In addition to being known as "Marco Island Airport", other names for MRK include "Marco Island Executive Airport" and "MKY".