Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Union Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Union Island Airport (UNI), Union Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,249 miles (or 6,839 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 Union Island 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 Union Island 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):

• 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 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.
• 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.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• 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.

Facts about Union Island Airport (UNI):

• Because of Union Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Union Island 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 Union Island Airport (UNI) is Umbu Mehang Kunda Airport (WGP), which is nearly antipodal to Union Island Airport (meaning Union Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Umbu Mehang Kunda Airport), and is located 12,203 miles (19,639 kilometers) away in Waingapu, Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.
• The closest airport to Union Island Airport (UNI) is Canouan Airport (CIW), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) NE of UNI.
• Union Island Airport (UNI) currently has only 1 runway.