Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Punta Caucedo (near Santo Domingo), Dominican Republic:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Las Américas International Airport (SDQ), Punta Caucedo (near Santo Domingo), Dominican Republic would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,283 miles (or 6,894 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 Las Américas 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 Las Américas 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):

• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.

Facts about Las Américas International Airport (SDQ):

• Because of Las Américas International Airport's relatively low elevation of 59 feet, planes can take off or land at Las Américas 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.
• The furthest airport from Las Américas International Airport (SDQ) is RAAF Learmonth (LEA), which is nearly antipodal to Las Américas International Airport (meaning Las Américas International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from RAAF Learmonth), and is located 12,078 miles (19,438 kilometers) away in Exmouth, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Las Américas International Airport (SDQ) is Herrera International Airport (HEX), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) W of SDQ.
• On February 15, 1970, a Dominicana de Aviación DC-9 that was flying to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, crashed, killing all 102 persons on board.
• In addition to being known as "Las Américas International Airport", another name for SDQ is "Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas".
• Recently, the expressway leading from Santo Domingo to the airport was expanded and modernised.
• Las Américas International Airport (SDQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Las Américas has seven gates on the main satellite concourse, A1 through A6, which have a shared use and in the same concourse there is an American Eagle gate, A7.
• Las Américas International Airport handled 3,136,522 passengers last year.