Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Vila Real, Portugal:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from FFD to VRL:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- VRL Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about VRL
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to VRL
- List of Nearest Airports to VRL
- Map of Furthest Airports from VRL
- List of Furthest Airports from VRL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Vila Real Airport (VRL), Vila Real, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 772 miles (or 1,242 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 Vila Real Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VRL / LPVR |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Vila Real, Portugal |
GPS Coordinates: | 41°16'39"N by 7°43'10"W |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 1831 feet (558 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from VRL |
More Information: | VRL Maps & Info |
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 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.
- 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.
- 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 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
Facts about Vila Real Airport (VRL):
- In addition to being known as "Vila Real Airport", another name for VRL is "Aeródromo Municipal de Vila Real".
- The furthest airport from Vila Real Airport (VRL) is Takaka Aerodrome (KTF), which is nearly antipodal to Vila Real Airport (meaning Vila Real Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Takaka Aerodrome), and is located 12,399 miles (19,955 kilometers) away in Takaka, New Zealand.
- The closest airport to Vila Real Airport (VRL) is Braga Airport (BGZ), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) WNW of VRL.
- Vila Real Airport (VRL) currently has only 1 runway.