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 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.

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

• 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.
• 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.
• Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō (TUO) has 2 runways.
• Taupo Airport is located within a Mandatory Broadcast Zone in uncontrolled airspace with type C airspace starting at 6500 ft AMSL and controlled by Christchurch Control.