Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Lubango, Angola:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Lubango Mukanka Airport (SDD), Lubango, Angola would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,694 miles (or 7,555 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 Lubango Mukanka 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 Lubango Mukanka 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):

• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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 runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• 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 Lubango Mukanka Airport (SDD):

• Because of Lubango Mukanka Airport's high elevation of 5,778 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SDD. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SDD a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Lubango Mukanka Airport", other names for SDD include "Aeroporto Lubango Mukanka (Lubango (Sá da Bandeira))" and "Aeroporto de Lubango".
• The furthest airport from Lubango Mukanka Airport (SDD) is Johnston Atoll Airport (JON), which is nearly antipodal to Lubango Mukanka Airport (meaning Lubango Mukanka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Johnston Atoll Airport), and is located 12,195 miles (19,627 kilometers) away in Johnston Atoll, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands.
• Lubango Mukanka Airport (SDD) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Lubango Mukanka Airport (SDD) is Vila Roçadas/Xangongo Airport (XGN), which is located 156 miles (252 kilometers) SE of SDD.