Nonstop flight route between Nouméa, New Caledonia and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nouméa Magenta Airport (GEA), Nouméa, New Caledonia and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,309 miles (or 16,591 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 Nouméa Magenta 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 Nouméa Magenta 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 Nouméa Magenta Airport (GEA):

• In addition to being known as "Nouméa Magenta Airport", another name for GEA is "l'Aéroport de Nouméa Magenta".
• Nouméa Magenta Airport (GEA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Nouméa Magenta Airport (GEA) is Fderik Airport (FGD), which is nearly antipodal to Nouméa Magenta Airport (meaning Nouméa Magenta Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fderik Airport), and is located 12,379 miles (19,922 kilometers) away in Fderik, Mauritania.
• Because of Nouméa Magenta Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Nouméa Magenta 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.
• The closest airport to Nouméa Magenta Airport (GEA) is Tontouta International Airport (NOU), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) NW of GEA.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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 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.