Nonstop flight route between McCarthy, Alaska, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between McCarthy Airport (MXY), McCarthy, Alaska, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,334 miles (or 6,974 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 McCarthy 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 McCarthy 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 McCarthy Airport (MXY):

• McCarthy Airport has one runway designated 1/19 with a gravel surface measuring 3,500 by 60 feet.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 48 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 65 enplanements in 2009, and 54 in 2010.
• In addition to being known as "McCarthy Airport", another name for MXY is "15Z".
• The furthest airport from McCarthy Airport (MXY) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,473 miles (16,855 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• McCarthy Airport (MXY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to McCarthy Airport (MXY) is May Creek Airport (MYK), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) SE of MXY.

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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.