Nonstop flight route between Goodyear, Arizona, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR), Goodyear, Arizona, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,217 miles (or 8,396 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 Phoenix Goodyear 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 Phoenix Goodyear 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 Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR):

• Both flight training schools, while regulated by the FAA and operating under their regulations, train students to JAA requirements as required for Europe.
• It is a Superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contaminants.
• Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Phoenix Goodyear Airport's relatively low elevation of 968 feet, planes can take off or land at Phoenix Goodyear 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 furthest airport from Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,456 miles (18,437 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR) is Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) N of GYR.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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 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.