Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Monterey, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Monterey Regional Airport (MRY), Monterey, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,347 miles (or 8,605 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 Monterey Regional 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 Monterey Regional 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.

Facts about Monterey Regional Airport (MRY):

• On July 27, 1985 a Piper PA-28-235 took off from Monterey to practice holding patterns over Monterey Bay.
• The furthest airport from Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,400 miles (18,346 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• On July 26, 1979 at about 9:43 pm a Cessna 320A crashed during its final approach to Monterey.
• Monterey Regional Airport is three miles southeast of Monterey, in Monterey County, California, USA.
• The closest airport to Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) is Salinas Municipal AirportSalinas Army Air Base (SNS), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) ENE of MRY.
• Because of Monterey Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 257 feet, planes can take off or land at Monterey Regional 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.
• Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) has 2 runways.