Nonstop flight route between Futuna Island, Taféa, Vanuatu and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Futuna Airport (FTA), Futuna Island, Taféa, Vanuatu and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,173 miles (or 16,371 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 Futuna 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 Futuna 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 Futuna Airport (FTA):

• The closest airport to Futuna Airport (FTA) is Aniwa Airport (AWD), which is located 46 miles (73 kilometers) WNW of FTA.
• The furthest airport from Futuna Airport (FTA) is Tichitt Airport (THI), which is nearly antipodal to Futuna Airport (meaning Futuna Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tichitt Airport), and is located 12,361 miles (19,894 kilometers) away in Tichitt, Mauritania.

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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.