Nonstop flight route between Sidney, Montana, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (SDY), Sidney, Montana, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,188 miles (or 6,739 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 Sidney-Richland 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 Sidney-Richland 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 Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (SDY):

• Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport covers an area of 335 acres at an elevation of 1,985 feet above mean sea level.
• The furthest airport from Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (SDY) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,383 miles (16,711 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 2,031 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 2,766 in 2009, and 3,659 in 2010.
• Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (SDY) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Sidney-Richland Municipal Airport (SDY) is Sloulin Field International Airport (ISN), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) NE of SDY.

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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.
• On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
• The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.