Nonstop flight route between Kuqa, Xinjiang, China and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kuqa Qiuci Airport (KCA), Kuqa, Xinjiang, China and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,845 miles (or 6,188 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 Kuqa Qiuci 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 Kuqa Qiuci 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 Kuqa Qiuci Airport (KCA):

• In addition to being known as "Kuqa Qiuci Airport", other names for KCA include "库车龟兹机场" and "Kùchē Qiūcí Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Kuqa Qiuci Airport (KCA) is Nalati Airport (NLT), which is located 120 miles (193 kilometers) N of KCA.
• The furthest airport from Kuqa Qiuci Airport (KCA) is Gamboa Airport (WCA), which is located 11,248 miles (18,102 kilometers) away in Castro, Chile.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.