Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Narita (near Tokyo), Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Narita International Airport (NRT), Narita (near Tokyo), Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,976 miles (or 9,618 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 Narita 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 Narita 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):

• 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.
• 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 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.

Facts about Narita International Airport (NRT):

• Because of Narita International Airport's relatively low elevation of 135 feet, planes can take off or land at Narita 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.
• The furthest airport from Narita International Airport (NRT) is Diomício Freitas/Forquilhinha Airport (CCM), which is located 11,686 miles (18,806 kilometers) away in Criciúma, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• Narita International Airport handled 31,432,754 passengers last year.
• Narita International Airport (NRT) has 2 runways.
• Haneda Airport is approximately 1.5–2 hours from Narita Airport by rail or bus.
• Vanilla Air, a low cost carrier, has its headquarters within Terminal 2.
• "Green Car" seats are available on both trains for an additional surcharge.
• The closest airport to Narita International Airport (NRT) is Tokyo International Airport (HND), which is located 37 miles (59 kilometers) WSW of NRT.
• Japan Airlines operates the Japan Airlines Narita Operation Center at Narita Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Narita International Airport", other names for NRT include "成田国際空港" and "Narita Kokusai Kūkō".