Nonstop flight route between Sabah, Malaysia and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Semporna Airport (SMM), Sabah, Malaysia and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,226 miles (or 11,629 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 Semporna 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 Semporna 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 Semporna Airport (SMM):

• Semporna Airport (SMM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Semporna Airport's relatively low elevation of 60 feet, planes can take off or land at Semporna 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.
• In addition to being known as "Semporna Airport", another name for SMM is "Lapangan Terbang Semporna".
• The furthest airport from Semporna Airport (SMM) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Semporna Airport (meaning Semporna Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,316 miles (19,820 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Semporna Airport (SMM) is Tawau Airport (TWU), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) WSW of SMM.

Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
• 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 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 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.