Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Bloomington, Minnesota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain Airport (MSP), Bloomington, Minnesota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,948 miles (or 6,353 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 Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain 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 Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain 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):

• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.

Facts about Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain Airport (MSP):

• Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain Airport handled 33,897,335 passengers last year.
• It is the third-largest hub airport for Delta Air Lines and Delta Connection partners Compass Airlines and Endeavor Air.
• In September 2012, MAC released a draft of the MSP 2020 Vision, expanding both the terminals to meet growing flights operations.
• By May 2012 Great Lakes Airlines was adding services to small communities that had been ended by the legacy carriers earlier in the airport's history.
• In terms of passengers, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport is the 17th busiest airport in the United States and 41st busiest airport in the world in 2012.
• Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain Airport (MSP) has 4 runways.
• The furthest airport from Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain Airport (MSP) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,758 miles (17,313 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 1970 disaster film Airport was partially filmed at MSP, filling in for a fictional Lincoln airport.
• The closest airport to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain Airport (MSP) is St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) ENE of MSP.
• Due in part to the impact of aircraft noise on south Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs, Northwest Airlines and others had proposed moving out of MSP and building a new airport on the fringes of the Twin Cities metro area to handle more large jets and more international traffic.
• Because of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain Airport's relatively low elevation of 841 feet, planes can take off or land at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain 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.
• Ground was broken for the current Charles Lindbergh terminal building on October 26, 1958.