Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Mattydale (near Syracuse), New York, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR), Mattydale (near Syracuse), New York, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,372 miles (or 5,427 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 Syracuse Hancock 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 Syracuse Hancock 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):

• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR):

• The east-west instrument runway was extended from its original 5500 feet by the mid-1950s to 6863 feet and a few years later to 8000 feet.
• The airport has lacked concession options.
• Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) has 2 runways.
• Because of Syracuse Hancock International Airport's relatively low elevation of 421 feet, planes can take off or land at Syracuse Hancock 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.
• Around the time of building the new terminal building, runway 6-24 was shortened to 3261 feet and continued to be a general aviation runway into the 1970s, and was abandoned after that.
• The closest airport to Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) is Cortland County Airport (CTX), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) S of SYR.
• The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a primary commercial service airport.Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 1,105,143 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 1,016,571 in 2009 and 1,024,505 in 2010.
• Syracuse Hancock International Airport handled 2,064,399 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,561 miles (18,606 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.