Nonstop flight route between Incheon (near Seoul), South Korea and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Incheon International Airport (ICN), Incheon (near Seoul), South Korea and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,531 miles (or 8,902 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 Incheon International 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 Incheon International 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 Incheon International Airport (ICN):

• In addition to being known as "Incheon International Airport", other names for ICN include "인천국제공항 仁川國際空港" and "Incheon Gukje Gonghang Inch'ŏn Kukche Konghang".
• Incheon International Airport handled 41,482,828 passengers last year.
• It is connected to the mainland by Incheon International Airport Expressway, a part of which is Yeongjong Bridge.
• Incheon International Airport (ICN) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Incheon International Airport (ICN) is Gimpo International Airport (GMP), which is located 20 miles (33 kilometers) ENE of ICN.
• After the Seoul Olympics of 1988, international air traffic to Korea increased.
• Located at the center of the airport, the 22 story Control Tower is 100.4 metres tall and is illuminated 24 hours a day.
• Located 48 km west of Seoul, the capital and the largest city of South Korea, Incheon International Airport is the main hub for Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, and Polar Air Cargo.
• Initially, there were numerous problems, mostly involving baggage handling, which required the system to be operated semi-automatically.
• Because of Incheon International Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Incheon International 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 Incheon International Airport (ICN) is Villa Gesell Airport (VLG), which is nearly antipodal to Incheon International Airport (meaning Incheon International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Villa Gesell Airport), and is located 12,246 miles (19,707 kilometers) away in Villa Gesell, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.