Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Gamèti (formerly Rae Lakes), Northwest Territories, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Gamèti/Rae Lakes Airport (YRA), Gamèti (formerly Rae Lakes), Northwest Territories, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,724 miles (or 5,993 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 Gamèti/Rae Lakes 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 Gamèti/Rae Lakes 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 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 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.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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 Gamèti/Rae Lakes Airport (YRA):

• Because of Gamèti/Rae Lakes Airport's relatively low elevation of 724 feet, planes can take off or land at Gamèti/Rae Lakes 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.
• Gamèti/Rae Lakes Airport (YRA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Gamèti/Rae Lakes Airport (YRA) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 9,839 miles (15,834 kilometers) away in Port Alfred, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Gamèti/Rae Lakes Airport (YRA) is Whatì Airport (YLE), which is located 68 miles (110 kilometers) S of YRA.