Nonstop flight route between Hermiston, Oregon, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hermiston Municipal Airport (HES), Hermiston, Oregon, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,746 miles (or 7,638 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 Hermiston Municipal 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 Hermiston Municipal 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 Hermiston Municipal Airport (HES):

• The furthest airport from Hermiston Municipal Airport (HES) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,810 miles (17,396 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Hermiston Municipal Airport (HES) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Hermiston Municipal Airport (HES) is Eastern Oregon Regional Airport (PDT), which is located 22 miles (36 kilometers) ESE of HES.
• Because of Hermiston Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 644 feet, planes can take off or land at Hermiston Municipal 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 "Hermiston Municipal Airport", another name for HES is "HRI".

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.