Nonstop flight route between Glendale, Arizona, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF), Glendale, Arizona, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,211 miles (or 8,387 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 Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field 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 Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field 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 Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF):

• The base population includes about 7500 military members and 15,000 family members.
• The closest airport to Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF) is Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) S of LUF.
• Luke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located seven miles west of the central business district of Glendale, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States.
• In addition to being known as "Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field", another name for LUF is "Luke AFB".
• Ground school, or classroom training for the advanced flying course, varied from about 100 to 130 hours and was intermingled with flight time in the aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,450 miles (18,426 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• On 25 May 1953 the 3600th Air Demonstration Team was officially organized and established at Luke, still officially carrying this designation, now known as the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.