Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF), Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,877 miles (or 7,849 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 Santa Fe Municipal 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 Santa Fe Municipal 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 RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF):

• On December 19, 2012, it was announced that ExpressJet Airlines, operating as United Express on behalf of United Airlines, would initiate double daily regional jet service to Denver International Airport beginning May 1, 2013.
• Santa Fe Municipal Airport is a city owned, public airport ten miles southwest of Santa Fe, a city in Santa Fe County, New Mexico.
• As of August 2011, the city of Santa Fe was in discussions with Great Lakes Airlines concerning the possible resumption of turboprop passenger service to Denver.
• Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,167 miles (17,972 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In June 2007 the airport was upgraded to Class 1 to allow regional jet flights.
• Because of Santa Fe Municipal Airport's high elevation of 6,348 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SAF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SAF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF) is Los Alamos Airport (LAM), which is located 21 miles (33 kilometers) NNW of SAF.