Nonstop flight route between Manchester, United Kingdom and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Manchester Airport (MAN), Manchester, United Kingdom and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 117 miles (or 189 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 relatively short distance between Manchester Airport and RAF Fairford, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Manchester Airport (MAN):

• Because of Manchester Airport's relatively low elevation of 257 feet, planes can take off or land at Manchester Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Manchester Airport handled 20,751,581 passengers last year.
• In June 1998, British Airways opened their new £75 million terminal facility designed by Grimshaw Architects, this being a major extension to Terminal 3, and became the primary user of the terminal along with their Oneworld partner airlines.
• Passenger flow on Terminal 1's gating piers is due to be realigned, with plans to redesign the piers so departures and arrivals do not contraflow on the same level, allowing larger seating areas at the gates, express retail outlets, and a dedicated lounge and gating area for future Airbus A380 flights.
• The furthest airport from Manchester Airport (MAN) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,824 miles (19,029 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Manchester Airport (MAN) has 2 runways.
• In June 2010, Manchester Airport issued a document "The Need for Land" about how it wants to expand over the next 20 years.
• The closest airport to Manchester Airport (MAN) is Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) W of MAN.
• Manchester Airport offers flights to over 190 destinations across the globe and 65 tour operators utilise the facility.

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.
• 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.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.