Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Taupo, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō (TUO), Taupo, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,537 miles (or 18,566 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 Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō, 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 Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō. 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō (TUO):

• Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō (TUO) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō (TUO) is Ciudad Real Central Airport (CQM), which is nearly antipodal to Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō (meaning Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ciudad Real Central Airport), and is located 12,428 miles (20,001 kilometers) away in Ciudad Real, Spain.
• The closest airport to Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō (TUO) is Rotorua International Airport (ROT), which is located 45 miles (73 kilometers) NNE of TUO.
• A number of small charter and training operations are also based here along with maintenance providers and a large search and rescue facility.