Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Mzuzu, Malawi:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Mzuzu Airport (ZZU), Mzuzu, Malawi would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,857 miles (or 7,816 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 Mzuzu 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 Mzuzu 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.
• 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 Mzuzu Airport (ZZU):

• Because of Mzuzu Airport's high elevation of 4,115 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ZZU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ZZU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Mzuzu Airport (ZZU) is Chelinda Airport (CEH), which is located 63 miles (101 kilometers) NNW of ZZU.
• Mzuzu Airport (ZZU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Mzuzu Airport (ZZU) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is located 11,606 miles (18,679 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.