Nonstop flight route between Jingzhou, Hubei, China and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shashi Airport (SHS), Jingzhou, Hubei, China and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,511 miles (or 8,869 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 Shashi 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 Shashi 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 Shashi Airport (SHS):

• The closest airport to Shashi Airport (SHS) is Yichang Sanxia Airport (YIH), which is located 50 miles (81 kilometers) WNW of SHS.
• Shashi Airport (SHS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Shashi Airport", other names for SHS include "沙市机场" and "Shāshì Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Shashi Airport (SHS) is Capitán Vicente Almandos Almonacid Airport (IRJ), which is nearly antipodal to Shashi Airport (meaning Shashi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Capitán Vicente Almandos Almonacid Airport), and is located 12,351 miles (19,878 kilometers) away in La Rioja, Argentina.
• Because of Shashi Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Shashi 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.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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.