Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Tununak, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Tununak Airport (TNK), Tununak, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,627 miles (or 7,446 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 Tununak 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 Tununak 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 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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 Tununak Airport (TNK):

• Tununak Airport is a state-owned, public-use airport located one nautical mile southwest of the central business district of Tununak, in the Bethel Census Area of the U.S.
• Tununak Airport (TNK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Tununak Airport has one runway designated 8/26 with a gravel surface measuring 1,778 by 30 feet.
• Because of Tununak Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Tununak 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 Tununak Airport (TNK) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,590 miles (17,043 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Tununak Airport (TNK) is Toksook Bay Airport (OOK), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ESE of TNK.
• In addition to being known as "Tununak Airport", another name for TNK is "4KA".