Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Northway, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to ORT:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- ORT Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about ORT
- 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 ORT
- List of Nearest Airports to ORT
- Map of Furthest Airports from ORT
- List of Furthest Airports from ORT
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Northway Airport (ORT), Northway, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,225 miles (or 6,800 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 Northway 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 Northway Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
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: | ORT / PAOR |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Northway, Alaska, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 62°57'39"N by 141°55'41"W |
| Area Served: | Northway, Alaska |
| Operator/Owner: | Alaska DOT&PF - Northern Region |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 1715 feet (523 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from ORT |
| More Information: | ORT Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- 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.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- 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 Northway Airport (ORT):
- The closest airport to Northway Airport (ORT) is Tok Airport (TKJ), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) NW of ORT.
- Northway Airport (ORT) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Northway Airport (ORT) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,363 miles (16,678 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- During World War II for northbound Lend-Lease aircraft on the Northwest Staging Route, the flight strip at Northway was the first stop in the Territory of Alaska.
- In addition to being known as "Northway Airport", another name for ORT is "(former Northway Airfield)".
