Nonstop flight route between Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Matsuyama Airport (MYJ), Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,918 miles (or 9,524 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 Matsuyama 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 Matsuyama 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 Matsuyama Airport (MYJ):

• The closest airport to Matsuyama Airport (MYJ) is Hiroshima Airport (HIJ), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) NNE of MYJ.
• Link Airs, a Fukuoka-based regional airline startup, plans to begin service to the airport in 2014.
• An office park named "Biz Port" opened near the airport in 2003 to attract technology businesses, but is scheduled to close in March 2015.
• In addition to being known as "Matsuyama Airport", other names for MYJ include "松山空港" and "Matsuyama kūkō".
• The airport opened as an Imperial Japanese Navy airfield in 1941, and became a state-administered civil airport in 1958.
• Matsuyama Airport (MYJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Matsuyama Airport (MYJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Matsuyama Airport (meaning Matsuyama Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,130 miles (19,522 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Because of Matsuyama Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Matsuyama 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):

• The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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 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.
• 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.