Nonstop flight route between Mariquita, Tolima Department, Colombia and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from MQU to FFD:
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- About this route
- MQU Airport Information
- FFD Airport Information
- Facts about MQU
- Facts about FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to MQU
- List of Nearest Airports to MQU
- Map of Furthest Airports from MQU
- List of Furthest Airports from MQU
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Mariquita Airport (MQU), Mariquita, Tolima Department, Colombia and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,215 miles (or 8,392 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 Mariquita 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 Mariquita Airport and RAF Fairford. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | MQU / SKQU |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Mariquita, Tolima Department, Colombia |
| GPS Coordinates: | 5°12'45"N by 74°53'0"W |
| Area Served: | Mariquita, Colombia |
| Operator/Owner: | Government |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 1531 feet (467 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from MQU |
| More Information: | MQU Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
| Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
| Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
| More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Facts about Mariquita Airport (MQU):
- Mariquita Airport (MQU) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Mariquita Airport (MQU) is Radin Inten II Airport (RIA II) (TKG), which is nearly antipodal to Mariquita Airport (meaning Mariquita Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Radin Inten II Airport (RIA II)), and is located 12,432 miles (20,007 kilometers) away in Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia.
- In addition to being known as "Mariquita Airport", another name for MQU is "Aeropuerto Mariquita".
- The closest airport to Mariquita Airport (MQU) is La Nubia Airport (MZL), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) WSW of MQU.
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- 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.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- 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.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
