Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Shanghai, People's Republic of China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), Shanghai, People's Republic of China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,774 miles (or 9,292 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 Shanghai Pudong 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 Shanghai Pudong 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):

• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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 is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.

Facts about Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG):

• Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) has 3 runways.
• Terminal 1 was opened on October 1, 1999 along with a 4000m runway and including a cargo hub.
• Terminal 2, opened on 26 March 2008, along with the third runway, gives a capacity of 60 million passengers and 4.2 million tonnes of cargo annually.
• Shanghai Metro Line 2 also provides service between Pudong International Airport and Longyang Road, Lujiazui, People's Square, and Hongqiao International Airport, Shanghai's primary domestic airport.
• In addition to being known as "Shanghai Pudong International Airport", other names for PVG include "上海浦东国际机场" and "Shànghǎi Pǔdōng Guójì Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) is Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) W of PVG.
• Prior to the establishment of Pudong International Airport, Hongqiao International Airport was the primary airport of Shanghai.
• Shanghai Pudong International Airport handled 44,857,200 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) is Comodoro Pierrestegui Airport (COC), which is nearly antipodal to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (meaning Shanghai Pudong International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Comodoro Pierrestegui Airport), and is located 12,421 miles (19,990 kilometers) away in Concordia, Entre Ríos, Argentina.
• Because of Shanghai Pudong International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Shanghai Pudong 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.