Nonstop flight route between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,726 miles (or 9,215 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 Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim 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 Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG):

• Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG) has 2 runways.
• On August 31, 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL819 million investiment plan to up-grade Galeão International Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro being one of the venue cities, and the 2016 Summer Olympics, which Rio de Janeiro will host.
• The furthest airport from Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (meaning Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,117 miles (19,500 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• On February 1, 1952 the new passenger terminal was opened and remained in use with enlargements until 1977.
• Because of Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport's relatively low elevation of 28 feet, planes can take off or land at Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim 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.
• In addition to being known as "Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport", another name for GIG is "Aeroporto Internacional do Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim".
• On January 20, 1977, when the airport was receiving all of Brazil's major international flights, this new terminal was opened and all scheduled passenger flights were transferred to the new building.
• As proof of the airport's prestige, the Concorde made its scheduled maiden-flight with Air France on January 21, 1976, flying from Paris – Charles de Gaulle to Galeão via Dakar.
• Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport handled 17,115,368 passengers last year.
• On June 6, 1967 in response the growth of the air traffic in Brazil, the Brazilian military government initiated studies concerning the renovation of the airport infrastructure in Brazil.
• The closest airport to Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG) is Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) SE of GIG.

Facts about RAF Fairford (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 RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.