Nonstop flight route between Pensacola, Florida, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NOLF Saufley Field (NUN), Pensacola, Florida, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,418 miles (or 7,110 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 NOLF Saufley Field 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 NOLF Saufley Field 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 NOLF Saufley Field (NUN):

• The furthest airport from NOLF Saufley Field (NUN) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,146 miles (17,937 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• In September 2004, the Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency designated Saufley Field as a temporary Logistical Staging Area for Federal, State and non-governmental agencies in response to Hurricane Ivan, considered one of the worst storms ever to hit the United States until that point.
• The installation was originally commissioned in 1943 as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Saufley Field and was redesignated Naval Air Station Saufley Field in 1968.
• The closest airport to NOLF Saufley Field (NUN) is Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) SSE of NUN.
• NOLF Saufley Field (NUN) has 2 runways.
• Because of NOLF Saufley Field's relatively low elevation of 85 feet, planes can take off or land at NOLF Saufley Field 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.
• In 1979, Saufley Field was redesignated as both OLF Saufley Field and Naval Education and Training Program Development Center Saufley Field following the latter activity's relocation from the nearby NETPDC Ellyson Field, Florida.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.