Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from FFD to PPI:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- PPI Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about PPI
- 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 PPI
- List of Nearest Airports to PPI
- Map of Furthest Airports from PPI
- List of Furthest Airports from PPI
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Port Pirie Airport (PPI), Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,067 miles (or 16,201 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 Port Pirie 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 Port Pirie 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: | PPI / YPIR |
Airport Name: | Port Pirie Airport |
Location: | Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°14'20"S by 137°59'42"E |
Operator/Owner: | Port Pirie Regional Council |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 39 feet (12 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from PPI |
More Information: | PPI Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
Facts about Port Pirie Airport (PPI):
- The furthest airport from Port Pirie Airport (PPI) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is located 11,696 miles (18,822 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
- Because of Port Pirie Airport's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Pirie 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.
- Port Pirie Airport (PPI) has 3 runways.
- The closest airport to Port Pirie Airport (PPI) is Cowell Airport (CCW), which is located 70 miles (113 kilometers) WSW of PPI.