Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Vestmannaeyjar Airport (VEY), Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,054 miles (or 1,697 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 relatively short distance between RAF Fairford and Vestmannaeyjar Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

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 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.

Facts about Vestmannaeyjar Airport (VEY):

• Vestmannaeyjar Airport (VEY) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Vestmannaeyjar Airport", another name for VEY is "Vestmannaeyjaflugvöllur".
• The furthest airport from Vestmannaeyjar Airport (VEY) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,250 miles (18,106 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Vestmannaeyjar Airport (VEY) is Reykjavík Airport (RKV), which is located 70 miles (113 kilometers) NW of VEY.
• Because of Vestmannaeyjar Airport's relatively low elevation of 326 feet, planes can take off or land at Vestmannaeyjar 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.