Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from FFD to PLM:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- PLM Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about PLM
- 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 PLM
- List of Nearest Airports to PLM
- Map of Furthest Airports from PLM
- List of Furthest Airports from PLM
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II) (PLM), Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,078 miles (or 11,391 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 Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II), 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 Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II). 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: | PLM / WIPP |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia |
GPS Coordinates: | 2°54'1"S by 104°42'0"E |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Indonesia |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 121 feet (37 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from PLM |
More Information: | PLM Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
- 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.
- 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.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- 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 Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II) (PLM):
- In addition to being known as "Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II)", another name for PLM is "Bandar Udara Internasional Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II (SMB II)".
- It has officially become an international airport and can accommodate the wide-body aircraft as of September 27, 2005.
- Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II) (PLM) currently has only 1 runway.
- This development means International Airport Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II can accommodate Airbus A330, Boeing 747 and other wide-body aircraft.
- Because of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II)'s relatively low elevation of 121 feet, planes can take off or land at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II) 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.
- Effective 1 April 1991, the airport is officially managed by the Management of Perum Angkasa Pura II.
- On September 24, 1975, Garuda Indonesia Flight 150 crashed on approach to Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport.
- The furthest airport from Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II) (PLM) is Benito Salas Airport (NVA), which is nearly antipodal to Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II) (meaning Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II) is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Benito Salas Airport), and is located 12,433 miles (20,009 kilometers) away in Neiva, Colombia.
- The closest airport to Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (SMB II) (PLM) is Sultan Thaha Airport (DJB), which is located 114 miles (183 kilometers) NW of PLM.