Nonstop flight route between Retalhuleu, Guatemala and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Retalhuleu Airport (RER), Retalhuleu, Guatemala and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,431 miles (or 8,740 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 Retalhuleu 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 Retalhuleu 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 Retalhuleu Airport (RER):

• Because of Retalhuleu Airport's relatively low elevation of 656 feet, planes can take off or land at Retalhuleu 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 Retalhuleu Airport (RER) is Coatepeque Airport (CTF), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) NW of RER.
• The furthest airport from Retalhuleu Airport (RER) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,841 miles (19,057 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Retalhuleu Airport (RER) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Retalhuleu Airport", another name for RER is "Base Aérea del Sur".

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• 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 is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
• 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.
• 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.