Nonstop flight route between Manhattan, Kansas, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK), Manhattan, Kansas, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,351 miles (or 7,003 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 Manhattan Regional 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 Manhattan Regional 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 Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK):

• Manhattan Regional Airport is a public airport in Riley County, Kansas.
• The first scheduled commercial airline service into Manhattan was Continental Airlines, which began DC-3 flights to Wichita in April 1953.
• The closest airport to Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK) is Marshall Army AirfieldMarshall Air Force Base (FRI), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) SW of MHK.
• During the 1970s Capital Air, operating as an air taxi service, suffered two crashes, each with fatalities.
• The furthest airport from Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,646 miles (17,133 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK) has 2 runways.
• For several years in the mid-1980s Air Midwest was an Eastern Air Lines affiliate and flew 30-passenger Saab 340As in Eastern paint to Kansas City.
• The FBO facility, next to the passenger terminal, is occupied by Kansas Air Center, which has been at Manhattan Airport since May 1989.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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 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 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• 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.