Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Minatitlán, Veracruz, Mexico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos International Airport (MTT), Minatitlán, Veracruz, Mexico would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,360 miles (or 8,626 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 Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos International 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 Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos International 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):

• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• 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 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 Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos International Airport (MTT):

• In addition to being known as "Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos International Airport", another name for MTT is "Aeropuerto Internacional de Minatitlán".
• Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos International Airport (MTT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos International Airport (MTT) is Carlos Rovirosa Pérez International Airport (VSA), which is located 116 miles (187 kilometers) E of MTT.
• The furthest airport from Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos International Airport (MTT) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,573 miles (18,626 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Because of Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos International Airport's relatively low elevation of 36 feet, planes can take off or land at Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos International 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.