Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Zhangye, Gansu, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Zhangye Ganzhou Airport (YZY), Zhangye, Gansu, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,644 miles (or 7,473 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 Zhangye Ganzhou 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 Zhangye Ganzhou 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 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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 Zhangye Ganzhou Airport (YZY):

• The furthest airport from Zhangye Ganzhou Airport (YZY) is Pichoy Airport (ZAL), which is nearly antipodal to Zhangye Ganzhou Airport (meaning Zhangye Ganzhou Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Pichoy Airport), and is located 12,098 miles (19,470 kilometers) away in Valdivia, Chile.
• The closest airport to Zhangye Ganzhou Airport (YZY) is Alxa Right Banner Badanjilin Airport (RHT), which is located 59 miles (95 kilometers) ENE of YZY.
• In addition to being known as "Zhangye Ganzhou Airport", other names for YZY include "张掖甘州机场" and "Zhāngyè Gānzhōu Jīchǎng".