Nonstop flight route between Greenwood, South Carolina, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Greenwood County Airport (GRD), Greenwood, South Carolina, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,020 miles (or 6,469 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 Greenwood County 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 Greenwood County 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 Greenwood County Airport (GRD):

• In addition to being known as "Greenwood County Airport", another name for GRD is "Coronaca Army Airfield".
• The closest airport to Greenwood County Airport (GRD) is Anderson Regional Airport (AND), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) WNW of GRD.
• The military use of the airport ended on December 31, 1945 and the airfield was turned over to civil authorities and converted into a civil airport in 1947.
• Greenwood County Airport (GRD) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Greenwood County Airport (GRD) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,450 miles (18,427 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Greenwood County Airport's relatively low elevation of 631 feet, planes can take off or land at Greenwood County 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.

Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.