Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Shellharbour, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to WOL:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- WOL Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about WOL
- 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 WOL
- List of Nearest Airports to WOL
- Map of Furthest Airports from WOL
- List of Furthest Airports from WOL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL), Shellharbour, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,636 miles (or 17,117 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 Illawarra Regional 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 Illawarra Regional Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
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: | WOL / YWOL |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Shellharbour, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°33'39"S by 150°47'18"E |
Operator/Owner: | Shellharbour City Council |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 31 feet (9 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from WOL |
More Information: | WOL Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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 RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
- 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.
- 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.
- RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
Facts about Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL):
- Because of Illawarra Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 31 feet, planes can take off or land at Illawarra Regional 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.
- Despite the length of the runway being sufficient for operating large passenger jets such as the Boeing 737, the pavements are currently only suitable for aircraft with a Maximum Takeoff Weight not exceeding 25,000 kilograms.
- Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL) has 2 runways.
- In addition to being known as "Illawarra Regional Airport", another name for WOL is "Wollongong Airport".
- The furthest airport from Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is nearly antipodal to Illawarra Regional Airport (meaning Illawarra Regional Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Horta International Airport), and is located 12,162 miles (19,573 kilometers) away in Horta, Azores, Portugal.
- Following the war, Trans Australia Airlines and Australian National Airways linked the airport with Canberra and Melbourne until 1950.
- The closest airport to Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL) is Camden Aerodrome (CDU), which is located 36 miles (59 kilometers) N of WOL.