Nonstop flight route between State College, Pennsylvania, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between University Park Airport (SCE), State College, Pennsylvania, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,540 miles (or 5,697 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 University Park 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 University Park 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 University Park Airport (SCE):

• University Park Airport (SCE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "University Park Airport", another name for SCE is "UNV".
• Starting in the 1950s, private pilots in the area had constructed a small airport on land leased from Penn State, just north of State College.
• On February 17, 2014, Delta Airlines announced nonstop service to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport starting on June 7, 2014.
• The closest airport to University Park Airport (SCE) is Mid-State Regional Airport (PSB), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) W of SCE.
• The furthest airport from University Park Airport (SCE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,582 miles (18,639 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
• Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• 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.