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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rotorua International Airport (ROT), Rotorua, New Zealand and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,495 miles (or 18,499 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 Rotorua International 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 Rotorua International 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 Rotorua International Airport (ROT):

• Rotorua International Airport handled 227,578 passengers last year.
• Construction began in 2008.
• Rotorua International Airport (ROT) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Rotorua International Airport (ROT) is Tauranga Airport (TRG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) NNW of ROT.
• The airport is located around 9.17 kilometres northeast of Rotorua on Te Ngae Road.
• Because of Rotorua International Airport's relatively low elevation of 936 feet, planes can take off or land at Rotorua International 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 furthest airport from Rotorua International Airport (ROT) is Ciudad Real Central Airport (CQM), which is nearly antipodal to Rotorua International Airport (meaning Rotorua International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ciudad Real Central Airport), and is located 12,383 miles (19,928 kilometers) away in Ciudad Real, Spain.

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.
• 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.
• In the early years of the Cold War the British and American governments reached an agreement under which elements of the USAF Strategic Air Command would be based in the UK.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.