Nonstop flight route between Noumea, New Caledonia and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tontouta International Airport (NOU), Noumea, New Caledonia and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,289 miles (or 16,558 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 Tontouta 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 Tontouta 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 Tontouta International Airport (NOU):

• In addition to being known as "Tontouta International Airport", another name for NOU is "Aéroport de Nouméa - La Tontouta".
• Tontouta International Airport (NOU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Tontouta International Airport's relatively low elevation of 52 feet, planes can take off or land at Tontouta 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 closest airport to Tontouta International Airport (NOU) is Nouméa Magenta Airport (GEA), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) SE of NOU.
• The furthest airport from Tontouta International Airport (NOU) is Fderik Airport (FGD), which is nearly antipodal to Tontouta International Airport (meaning Tontouta International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fderik Airport), and is located 12,356 miles (19,885 kilometers) away in Fderik, Mauritania.

Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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.