Nonstop flight route between Lubbock, Texas, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB), Lubbock, Texas, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,824 miles (or 7,763 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 Lubbock Preston Smith 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 Lubbock Preston Smith 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 Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB):

• Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport is a city owned, public airport five miles north of Lubbock, in Lubbock County, Texas, United States.
• The airport opened in November 1937 as South Plains Airport.
• By late 1944 Flying Training Command ended all glider instruction, and control of South Plains AAF was transferred to Air Service Command at Tinker Field, Oklahoma.
• Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB) is Hale County Airport (PVW), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) N of LBB.
• The furthest airport from Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,113 miles (17,885 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to being known as "Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport", another name for LBB is "(former South Plains Army Airfield)".

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