Nonstop flight route between Moses Lake, Washington, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grant County International Airport (MWH), Moses Lake, Washington, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,671 miles (or 7,517 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 Grant County 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 Grant County 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 Grant County International Airport (MWH):

• Grant County International Airport (MWH) has 5 runways.
• The closest airport to Grant County International Airport (MWH) is Ephrata Municipal Airport (EPH), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NW of MWH.
• The furthest airport from Grant County International Airport (MWH) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,730 miles (17,268 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In 2011, the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild AFB in Spokane temporarily moved its KC-135 R/T fleet and operations to Moses Lake while Fairchild's runway underwent reconstruction and other infrastructure improvements, to include an upgrade to the base's aviation fuel distribution system.
• Opened as a training airfield during World War II, the facility was operated by the U.S.
• With 4,700 acres and a main runway 13,500 feet in length, it is one of the largest airports in the United States.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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.