Nonstop flight route between Georgetown, Cayman Islands and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GCM to FFD:
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- About this route
- GCM Airport Information
- FFD Airport Information
- Facts about GCM
- Facts about FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to GCM
- List of Nearest Airports to GCM
- Map of Furthest Airports from GCM
- List of Furthest Airports from GCM
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM), Georgetown, Cayman Islands and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,739 miles (or 7,626 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 Owen Roberts International 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 Owen Roberts International Airport and RAF Fairford. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GCM / MWCR |
| Airport Name: | Owen Roberts International Airport |
| Location: | Georgetown, Cayman Islands |
| GPS Coordinates: | 19°17'33"N by 81°21'33"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Cayman Islands Government |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 8 feet (2 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from GCM |
| More Information: | GCM Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
| Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
| Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
| More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Facts about Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM):
- Because of Owen Roberts International Airport's relatively low elevation of 8 feet, planes can take off or land at Owen Roberts International 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.
- Owen Roberts International Airport is an airport located in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.
- The furthest airport from Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,931 miles (19,202 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
- In 1952, after Owen Roberts convinced the commissioners of the country to construct airports on all three Cayman Islands, a 5,000 ft runway, along with a terminal was constructed on Grand Cayman at the cost of £100,000.
- The closest airport to Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM) is Edward Bodden Airfield - Little Cayman (LYB), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) ENE of GCM.
- Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
- 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.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
- 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 is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
- 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.
