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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Florida Keys Marathon Airport (MTH), Marathon, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,445 miles (or 7,154 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 Florida Keys Marathon 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 Florida Keys Marathon 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):

• 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
• 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.

Facts about Florida Keys Marathon Airport (MTH):

• Because of Florida Keys Marathon Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Florida Keys Marathon 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.
• Florida Keys Marathon Airport (MTH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Marathon Airport was originally constructed by the United States Navy in the early 1940s as Outlying Field Marathon, an auxiliary airfield to Naval Air Station Key West.
• The closest airport to Florida Keys Marathon Airport (MTH) is NAS Key West (NQX), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) WSW of MTH.
• However on December 1, 2006, the TSA bowed to the effective lobbying efforts of local government, congressional and business officials when it announced that screeners would be provided at the airport no later than February 15, 2007, even if it meant using a contractor.
• The furthest airport from Florida Keys Marathon Airport (MTH) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,560 miles (18,603 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• The Florida Keys Marathon Airport is a public airport located along the Overseas Highway in Marathon, in Monroe County, Florida, United States.
• In mid summer of 2007, Delta announced it would end service to Marathon Airport due to low demand.