Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Astana, Kazakhstan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Astana International Airport (TSE), Astana, Kazakhstan would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,023 miles (or 4,866 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 Astana 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 Astana 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):

• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.

Facts about Astana International Airport (TSE):

• Astana International Airport (TSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Astana International Airport handled 2,303,143 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Astana International Airport (TSE) is Teniente Julio Gallardo Airfield (PNT), which is located 10,898 miles (17,539 kilometers) away in Puerto Natales, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Astana International Airport", other names for TSE include "Халықаралық Астана Әуежайы" and "Международный аэропорт Астана".
• The closest airport to Astana International Airport (TSE) is Sary-Arka Airport (KGF), which is located 124 miles (200 kilometers) SE of TSE.
• The airport traces its history to 1931 when Astana's first airfield was constructed.