Nonstop flight route between Palmerston North, New Zealand and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palmerston North Airport (PMR), Palmerston North, New Zealand and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,642 miles (or 18,736 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 Palmerston North 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 Palmerston North 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 Palmerston North Airport (PMR):

• Because of Palmerston North Airport's relatively low elevation of 151 feet, planes can take off or land at Palmerston North 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.
• Palmerston North Airport handled 449,090 passengers last year.
• Palmerston North Airport (PMR) has 2 runways.
• There were two regular international services departing from this airport, to Sydney and Brisbane operated by Freedom Air, however services ended in March 2008.
• The furthest airport from Palmerston North Airport (PMR) is Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), which is nearly antipodal to Palmerston North Airport (meaning Palmerston North Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Madrid, Spain.
• The first airfield on this site was created by the Milson Aerodrome Society in 1931, comprising a grass runway.
• The closest airport to Palmerston North Airport (PMR) is Wanganui Airport (WAG), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) NW of PMR.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.