Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Sparti, Laconia, Greece:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Sparti Airport (SPJ), Sparti, Laconia, Greece would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,561 miles (or 2,512 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 relatively short distance between RAF Fairford and Sparti Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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 Sparti Airport (SPJ):

• Sparti Airport (SPJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sparti Airport (SPJ) is Mangaia Island Airport (MGS), which is located 11,395 miles (18,338 kilometers) away in Mangaia Island, Cook Islands.
• In addition to being known as "Sparti Airport", other names for SPJ include "Αεροδρόμιο Σπάρτης" and "Sparti Airport".
• The closest airport to Sparti Airport (SPJ) is Kalamata International Airport (KLX), which is located 28 miles (46 kilometers) WNW of SPJ.
• Because of Sparti Airport's relatively low elevation of 499 feet, planes can take off or land at Sparti 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.