Nonstop flight route between Xiahe, Gansu, China and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gannan Xiahe Airport (GXH), Xiahe, Gansu, China and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,925 miles (or 7,926 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 Gannan Xiahe 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 Gannan Xiahe 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 Gannan Xiahe Airport (GXH):

• In addition to being known as "Gannan Xiahe Airport", other names for GXH include "甘南夏河机场" and "Gānnán Xiàhé Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Gannan Xiahe Airport (GXH) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is nearly antipodal to Gannan Xiahe Airport (meaning Gannan Xiahe Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Carriel Sur International Airport), and is located 12,161 miles (19,571 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• The closest airport to Gannan Xiahe Airport (GXH) is Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN), which is located 123 miles (199 kilometers) NNW of GXH.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.