Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Bowen, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Bowen Airport (ZBO), Bowen, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,717 miles (or 15,638 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 Bowen 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 Bowen 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.
• 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.
• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Bowen Airport (ZBO):

• The furthest airport from Bowen Airport (ZBO) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,957 miles (19,243 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• The closest airport to Bowen Airport (ZBO) is Whitsunday Airport (WSY), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) ESE of ZBO.
• Bowen Airport (ZBO) has 2 runways.
• Because of Bowen Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Bowen 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.