Nonstop flight route between Monterey, California, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Monterey Regional Airport (MRY), Monterey, California, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,347 miles (or 8,605 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 Monterey 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 Monterey 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 Monterey Regional Airport (MRY):

• On September 8, 1987, at about 5:50 pm, a Beechcraft 95, being flown by a 31-year-old student pilot, was conducting multi-engine training at Monterey.
• Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) is Salinas Municipal AirportSalinas Army Air Base (SNS), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) ENE of MRY.
• The airport has its origins with flights from the polo field of the Hotel Del Monte in 1910.
• The furthest airport from Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,400 miles (18,346 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• On August 17, 1968 at about 12:36 pm, a Cessna 210 stalled while landing at the Monterey Peninsula Airport.
• On October 12, 1997 at about 5:28 pm a Rutan Long-EZ being flown by John Denver crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California.
• Because of Monterey Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 257 feet, planes can take off or land at Monterey Regional 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.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.
• The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.