Nonstop flight route between Groton, Connecticut, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Groton-New London Airport (GON), Groton, Connecticut, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,283 miles (or 5,283 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 Groton-New London 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 Groton-New London 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 Groton-New London Airport (GON):

• In 1980, the name of the airport changed to Groton-New London Airport.
• Because of Groton-New London Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Groton-New London 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 Groton-New London Airport (GON) is Elizabeth Field (FID), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) S of GON.
• Columbia Air Services and Lanmar Aviation have been the two fixed-base operators serving the airport.
• Groton-New London Airport (GON) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Groton-New London Airport (GON) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,794 miles (18,980 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Over the years, and usually no more than one at a time, various domestic airlines served the airport, including Pan Am Clipper Connection, NewAir, Allegheny, Piedmont, and Pilgrim Airlines.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
• 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.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.