Nonstop flight route between Haines, Alaska, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Haines Airport (HNS), Haines, Alaska, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,348 miles (or 6,998 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 Haines 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 Haines 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 Haines Airport (HNS):

• Because of Haines Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Haines 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.
• Haines Airport (HNS) currently has only 1 runway.
• This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a non-primary commercial service airport.
• The furthest airport from Haines Airport (HNS) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,491 miles (16,883 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Haines Airport (HNS) is Skagway Airport (SGY), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) NNE of HNS.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.