Nonstop flight route between Sikasso, Mali and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sikasso Airport (KSS), Sikasso, Mali and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,797 miles (or 4,501 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 Sikasso 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 Sikasso 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 Sikasso Airport (KSS):

• The closest airport to Sikasso Airport (KSS) is Koutiala Airport (KTX), which is located 74 miles (119 kilometers) NNE of KSS.
• The furthest airport from Sikasso Airport (KSS) is Funafuti International Airport (FUN), which is nearly antipodal to Sikasso Airport (meaning Sikasso Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Funafuti International Airport), and is located 12,051 miles (19,395 kilometers) away in Funafuti, Tuvalu.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.