Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Catania, Italy:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to NSY:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- NSY Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about NSY
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to NSY
- List of Nearest Airports to NSY
- Map of Furthest Airports from NSY
- List of Furthest Airports from NSY
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY), Catania, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,279 miles (or 2,058 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 relatively short distance between RAF Fairford and Naval Air Station Sigonella, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | NSY / LICZ |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Catania, Italy |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°24'6"N by 14°55'19"E |
Operator/Owner: | Italian Air Force United States Navy |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 79 feet (24 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from NSY |
More Information: | NSY Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- 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 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.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- 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.
Facts about Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY):
- In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station Sigonella", other names for NSY include "Base aerea di Sigonella" and "NAS Sigonella".
- The closest airport to Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY) is Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (CTA), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) ENE of NSY.
- The airport resides at an elevation of 79 feet above mean sea level.
- By the end of August 1959, the NAF II airfield was available for daylight flights under visual flight rules.
- It also serves as an Italian base for the 41º Stormo Antisom.
- Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Naval Air Station Sigonella (NSY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,695 miles (18,821 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Because of Naval Air Station Sigonella's relatively low elevation of 79 feet, planes can take off or land at Naval Air Station Sigonella 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.
- When NATO took military intervention to Libya in 2011, NAS Sigonella played an important role in US Operation Odyssey Dawn because of its short distance to the country.