Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Nanjing, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Nanjing Lukou International Airport (NKG), Nanjing, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,647 miles (or 9,087 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 Nanjing Lukou 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 Nanjing Lukou 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):

• 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.
• On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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 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 Nanjing Lukou International Airport (NKG):

• Because of Nanjing Lukou International Airport's relatively low elevation of 49 feet, planes can take off or land at Nanjing Lukou 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.
• Nanjing Lukou International Airport is the main airport serving Nanjing, and a major airport serving the Yangtze River Delta area.
• The furthest airport from Nanjing Lukou International Airport (NKG) is General Justo José de Urquiza Airport (PRA), which is nearly antipodal to Nanjing Lukou International Airport (meaning Nanjing Lukou International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from General Justo José de Urquiza Airport), and is located 12,398 miles (19,953 kilometers) away in Paraná, Entre Ríos, Argentina.
• Nanjing Lukou International Airport handled 15,011,792 passengers last year.
• The airport is accessed by Konggang Road, which connects to the Airport Expressway.
• In addition to being known as "Nanjing Lukou International Airport", other names for NKG include "南京禄口国际机场" and "Nánjīng Lùkǒu Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Nanjing Lukou International Airport (NKG) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Nanjing Lukou International Airport (NKG) is Changzhou Benniu Airport (CZX), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) ENE of NKG.