Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Payson, Arizona, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Payson Airport (PJB), Payson, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,135 miles (or 8,265 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 Payson 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 Payson 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):

• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Payson Airport (PJB):

• The airport does not have an air traffic control tower.
• Payson Airport is a public airport located one mile west of the central business district of Payson, a town in Gila County, Arizona, United States.
• Because of Payson Airport's high elevation of 5,157 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at PJB. Combined with a high temperature, this could make PJB a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Payson Airport (PJB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Payson Airport (PJB) is Sedona Airport (SDX), which is located 48 miles (78 kilometers) NNW of PJB.
• The furthest airport from Payson Airport (PJB) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,384 miles (18,320 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Payson Aviation is the main provider of fixed-based operations.
• In addition to being known as "Payson Airport", another name for PJB is "PAN".