Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Oakland (near San Francisco), California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Oakland International Airport (OAK), Oakland (near San Francisco), California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,293 miles (or 8,518 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 Oakland 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 Oakland 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.

Facts about Oakland International Airport (OAK):

• The furthest airport from Oakland International Airport (OAK) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,354 miles (18,273 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• For more than 30 years, OAK has worked with its stakeholders to develop programs that minimize the effect of aircraft noise, to the extent possible, on surrounding communities, while maintaining a safe and efficient air transportation center.
• The closest airport to Oakland International Airport (OAK) is Hayward Executive Airport (HWD), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) SE of OAK.
• In August 2010, Mexicana Airlines suspended all its flights out of the airport and its other destinations indefinitely until further notice due to financial problems.
• Oakland International Airport (OAK) has 4 runways.
• In 2008 Oakland suffered a series of service cutbacks due to high fuel costs and airline bankruptcies, more than other Bay Area airports.
• Because of Oakland International Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Oakland 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.
• It is formerly the location of Naval Air Station Oakland.
• Even at the completion of these projects, there is already demand driving the need for additional infrastructure improvements.