Nonstop flight route between Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 288 miles (or 464 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 relatively short distance between Glasgow-Prestwick Airport and RAF Fairford, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK):

• In the beginning Prestwick was the only Scottish airport allowed to operate a transatlantic link, largely due to the benign weather conditions on the Ayrshire coast.
• The furthest airport from Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,764 miles (18,932 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Because of Glasgow-Prestwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 65 feet, planes can take off or land at Glasgow-Prestwick 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.
• Today, Ryanair serves more than 20 destinations from Prestwick — one of their maintenance hubs – and other budget airlines have also moved into the airport.
• The closest airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Glasgow International Airport (GLA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NNE of PIK.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
• The car park and A79 outside the terminal building have been reconstructed to comply with governmental movement and access restrictions mandated in the aftermath of the Glasgow International Airport terrorist attack.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
• 2009 saw the unit break a new record as they were tasked to 447 call outs.
• In 1938 passenger facilities were added.
• After British Airways had ceased regular passenger operations in 1983, BA continued to intermittently use Prestwick as a site for pilot training, especially for training Concorde pilots.

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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
• 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.
• 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.