Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Charlottetown Airport (YYG), Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,723 miles (or 4,382 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 Charlottetown 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 Charlottetown 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):

• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.

Facts about Charlottetown Airport (YYG):

• Because of Charlottetown Airport's relatively low elevation of 159 feet, planes can take off or land at Charlottetown 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.
• The opening of the Confederation Bridge in 1997 coupled with capacity improvements at Moncton and Halifax airports saw many changes to air traffic through Charlottetown.
• The furthest airport from Charlottetown Airport (YYG) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,651 miles (18,751 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 2008, the airport set an all-time passenger record with 282,385 passengers using the airport, a near 80% increase over 2002.
• The closest airport to Charlottetown Airport (YYG) is Summerside Airport (YSU), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) WNW of YYG.
• Throughout this time, Upton Airport received the first air mail service in Canada.
• Charlottetown Airport (YYG) has 2 runways.