Nonstop flight route between New Orleans, Louisiana, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), New Orleans, Louisiana, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,561 miles (or 7,340 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 Louis Armstrong New Orleans International 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 Louis Armstrong New Orleans International 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 Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY):

• Because of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport's relatively low elevation of 4 feet, planes can take off or land at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International 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.
• The furthest airport from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,125 miles (17,905 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Retired United States Air Force Major-General Junius Wallace Jones served as airport director in the 1950s.
• The closest airport to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) is Lakefront Airport (NEW), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) ENE of MSY.
• Southwest Airlines now carries the most passengers at New Orleans.
• British Airways operated nonstop service to London and Mexico City in the early 1980s with the Lockheed L-1011-500 TriStar which was the long range version of the widebody trijet.
• For years Delta Air Lines carried more passengers into and out of New Orleans than any other airline.
• In addition to being known as "Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport", another name for MSY is "Moisant Field".
• Despite its status as an international airport, the majority of commercial flights offered are to domestic destinations within the United States.
• On November 16, 1959 National Airlines Flight 967, a Douglas DC-7 flying from Tampa to New Orleans crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.
• Starting in 1946 passengers used a large, hangar-like makeshift structure, until a new terminal complex, designed by Goldstein Parham & Labouisse and Herbert A.
• Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) has 2 runways.

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.
• On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.