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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Kelowna International Airport (YLW), Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,520 miles (or 7,275 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 Kelowna International 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 Kelowna International 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• Due to the deteriorating airfield facilities and its unique NATO heavy bomber mission, RAF Fairford underwent a $100 million upgrade of its runway and fuel systems in the largest NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since the end of the Cold War.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Kelowna International Airport (YLW):

• Several food and beverage services, including Tim Horton's and White Spot Legends restaurant, newsstands, and tourist-related retail stores, in addition to a limited selection of duty-free goods, can be found in the terminal.
• Kelowna International Airport is a Canadian airport located approximately 10 minutes or 6.2 nautical miles northeast of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on Highway 97.
• Kelowna International Airport (YLW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kelowna International Airport (YLW) is Vernon Regional Airport (YVE), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) N of YLW.
• The furthest airport from Kelowna International Airport (YLW) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,566 miles (17,004 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The airport is serviced by Kelowna Regional Route 23 and Vernon Regional Route 90 buses, which connect Vernon and Lake Country with UBC Okanagan Exchange in Kelowna.
• In 2006, the Kelowna International Airport Advisory Committee created the Master Plan 2025, a document dedicated to the expansion of the Kelowna International Airport.
• The single runway airport operates scheduled air service to the major hub airports of Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Los Angeles, and Seattle, as well as less frequent seasonal service to Cancún, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.
• Kelowna International Airport handled 1,440,952 passengers last year.