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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Punta Gorda Airport (PGD), Punta Gorda, Florida, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,374 miles (or 7,039 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 Punta Gorda 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 Punta Gorda 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 Punta Gorda Airport (PGD):

• The furthest airport from Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,471 miles (18,461 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) has 3 runways.
• The base initially had forty Curtis P-40 Warhawks assigned, later transitioning to the North American P-51 Mustang.
• The closest airport to Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) is Page Field (FMY), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SSE of PGD.
• In 2010 enplanements only totaled 90,240, making PGD the least used airport in Florida by scheduled airline passengers.
• Punta Gorda Airport handled 149,141 passengers last year.
• The airport saw no large airlines after the early 1980s in the aftermath of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978.
• The 27th Service Group, an all-black unit, was moved from McDill Field near Tampa to provide training for support services to the air combat units.
• Because of Punta Gorda Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Punta Gorda 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.
• In addition to being known as "Punta Gorda Airport", another name for PGD is "(Formerly Charlotte County Airport)".

Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• 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 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.
• 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 was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.