Nonstop flight route between Fukui, Honshu, Japan and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fukui Airport (FKJ), Fukui, Honshu, Japan and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,859 miles (or 9,430 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 Fukui Airport and RAF Fairford, 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 Fukui Airport and RAF Fairford. 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 Fukui Airport (FKJ):

• The closest airport to Fukui Airport (FKJ) is Komatsu Airport (KMQ), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) NNE of FKJ.
• Because of Fukui Airport's relatively low elevation of 18 feet, planes can take off or land at Fukui 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.
• Fukui Airport (FKJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Fukui Airport (FKJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,881 miles (19,121 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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 is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.