Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Busan, South Korea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Gimhae International Airport (PUS), Busan, South Korea would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,737 miles (or 9,232 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 Gimhae International 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 Gimhae International 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):

• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• 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.
• On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.

Facts about Gimhae International Airport (PUS):

• In addition to being known as "Gimhae International Airport", other names for PUS include "김해국제공항 金海國際空港", "Gimhae Gukje Gonghang" and "Kimhae Kukche Konghang".
• Gimhae International Airport handled 9,671,381 passengers last year.
• Around 2013, Busan had announced that it was proposing to cease Gimhae International Airport's operation on all passenger planes, due to the small size, small maximum amounts of space and sky-routes, and safety.
• The curfew prevents aircraft from taking off or landing between the hours of 11 P.M.
• The closest airport to Gimhae International Airport (PUS) is Sacheon Airport (HIN), which is located 49 miles (80 kilometers) W of PUS.
• Gimhae International Airport (PUS) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Gimhae International Airport (PUS) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Gimhae International Airport (meaning Gimhae International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,214 miles (19,656 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Because of Gimhae International Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Gimhae International 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.