Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Salisbury, Maryland, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY), Salisbury, Maryland, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,556 miles (or 5,722 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 Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional 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 Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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 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.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• 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 Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY):

• Piedmont has previously served Salisbury with flights to Washington and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
• Because of Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 53 feet, planes can take off or land at Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional 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.
• In addition to being known as "Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport", another name for SBY is "Salisbury Airport".
• Allegiant Air began twice a week service to Orlando-Sanford International Airport in February 2012, using its McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jets, but ended the route less than a year later on January 5, 2013 due to the route's relatively small amount of passengers.
• Bayland aviation is the fixed base operator at Salisbury.
• The furthest airport from Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,772 miles (18,944 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY) is Ocean City Municipal Airport (OCE), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) E of SBY.