Nonstop flight route between Qala i Naw, Afghanistan and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Qala i Naw Airport د قلعه نوهوائی ډګر (LQN), Qala i Naw, Afghanistan and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,337 miles (or 5,370 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 Qala i Naw Airport د قلعه نوهوائی ډګر 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 Qala i Naw Airport د قلعه نوهوائی ډګر 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 Qala i Naw Airport د قلعه نوهوائی ډګر (LQN):

• In addition to being known as "Qala i Naw Airport د قلعه نوهوائی ډګر", other names for LQN include "Qala-I-Naw Airport (Qala-I-Naw)" and "KDH".
• Qala i Naw Airport د قلعه نوهوائی ډګر (LQN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Qala i Naw Airport د قلعه نوهوائی ډګر (LQN) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,739 miles (18,893 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The closest airport to Qala i Naw Airport د قلعه نوهوائی ډګر (LQN) is Herat International Airport (HEA), which is located 74 miles (119 kilometers) SW of LQN.

Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.