Nonstop flight route between Raton, New Mexico, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Raton Municipal Airport (RTN), Raton, New Mexico, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,760 miles (or 7,661 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 Raton Municipal 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 Raton Municipal 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 Raton Municipal Airport (RTN):

• The furthest airport from Raton Municipal Airport (RTN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,053 miles (17,788 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to being known as "Raton Municipal Airport", another name for RTN is "Crews Field".
• Raton Municipal Airport (RTN) has 2 runways.
• Until around 1954 Continental Airlines stopped there, a DC-3 a day each way between Denver and Albuquerque, but Raton may not have seen an airliner since then.
• Because of Raton Municipal Airport's high elevation of 6,352 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at RTN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make RTN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Raton Municipal Airport (RTN) is Perry Stokes Airport (TAD), which is located 37 miles (59 kilometers) NNE of RTN.
• Raton Municipal Airport is a city owned, public airport 12 miles southwest of Raton, in Colfax County, New Mexico.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.