Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Courtenay Airpark (YCA), Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,681 miles (or 7,534 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 Courtenay Airpark, 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 Courtenay Airpark. 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):

• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.

Facts about Courtenay Airpark (YCA):

• Because of Courtenay Airpark's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Courtenay Airpark 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 Courtenay Airpark (YCA) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,680 miles (17,188 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Courtenay Airpark (YCA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Courtenay Airpark", another name for YCA is "CAH3".
• The closest airport to Courtenay Airpark (YCA) is CFB Comox (YQQ), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) ENE of YCA.