Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Port Heiden, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Port Heiden Airport (PTH), Port Heiden, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,816 miles (or 7,751 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 Heiden 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 Heiden 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):

• 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 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Port Heiden Airport (PTH):

• The closest airport to Port Heiden Airport (PTH) is Chignik Fisheries Airport (KCG), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) S of PTH.
• The Air Force remediated the radar site around 2000, removing all abandoned military structures and returning the site to a natural condition.
• Port Heiden Airport (PTH) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Port Heiden Airport", other names for PTH include "Port Heiden Air Force Station" and "Fort Morrow Army Airfield".
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 919 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 964 enplanements in 2009, and 1,037 in 2010.
• The furthest airport from Port Heiden Airport (PTH) is George Airport (GRJ), which is located 10,850 miles (17,462 kilometers) away in George, South Africa.
• Because of Port Heiden Airport's relatively low elevation of 95 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Heiden 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.