Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Suzhou, Jiangsu, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Suzhou Guangfu Airport (SZV), Suzhou, Jiangsu, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,723 miles (or 9,210 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 Suzhou Guangfu 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 Suzhou Guangfu 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 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Suzhou Guangfu Airport (SZV):

• The closest airport to Suzhou Guangfu Airport (SZV) is Sunan Shuofang International Airport (WUX), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) N of SZV.
• In addition to being known as "Suzhou Guangfu Airport", other names for SZV include "苏州光福机场", "Sūzhōu Guāngfú Jīchǎng" and "ZSSV".
• The furthest airport from Suzhou Guangfu Airport (SZV) is General Justo José de Urquiza Airport (PRA), which is nearly antipodal to Suzhou Guangfu Airport (meaning Suzhou Guangfu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from General Justo José de Urquiza Airport), and is located 12,373 miles (19,913 kilometers) away in Paraná, Entre Ríos, Argentina.