Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Blountville, Tennessee (Tri-Cities area), United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI), Blountville, Tennessee (Tri-Cities area), United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,924 miles (or 6,315 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 Tri-Cities Regional 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 Tri-Cities Regional 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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 runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI):

• The furthest airport from Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,434 miles (18,402 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI) is Virginia Highlands Airport (VJI), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) NE of TRI.
• Tri-Cities Regional Airport covers 1,225 acres at an elevation of 1,519 feet above mean sea level.
• In the mid-1930s Johnson City’s airfield and Kingsport’s airstrip were deemed not practical for expansion.
• Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 202,730 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 217,783 in 2009 and 202,114 in 2010.
• In addition to being known as "Tri-Cities Regional Airport", another name for TRI is "Tri-Cities Regional Airport, TN/VA".
• American Airlines pulled out in 1952.
• Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI) has 2 runways.