Nonstop flight route between Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands and Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SPN to BZZ:
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- About this route
- SPN Airport Information
- BZZ Airport Information
- Facts about SPN
- Facts about BZZ
- Map of Nearest Airports to SPN
- List of Nearest Airports to SPN
- Map of Furthest Airports from SPN
- List of Furthest Airports from SPN
- Map of Nearest Airports to BZZ
- List of Nearest Airports to BZZ
- Map of Furthest Airports from BZZ
- List of Furthest Airports from BZZ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Saipan International Airport (SPN), Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands and RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,417 miles (or 11,937 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 Saipan International Airport and RAF Brize Norton, 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 Saipan International Airport and RAF Brize Norton. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SPN / PGSN |
| Airport Names: |
|
| Location: | Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands |
| GPS Coordinates: | 15°7'8"N by 145°43'45"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Commonwealth Ports Authority |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 215 feet (66 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SPN |
| More Information: | SPN Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BZZ / EGVN |
| Airport Name: | RAF Brize Norton |
| Location: | Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°45'0"N by 1°35'0"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from BZZ |
| More Information: | BZZ Maps & Info |
Facts about Saipan International Airport (SPN):
- Because of Saipan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Saipan International 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.
- The furthest airport from Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Saipan International Airport (meaning Saipan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,125 miles (19,514 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
- Saipan International Airport commenced operation on 25 July 1976 taking over from the nearby Kobler Field.Continental Micronesia initially had its main hub at Kobler Field and then Saipan Airport.
- In addition to being known as "Saipan International Airport", other names for SPN include "Francisco C. Ada Airport" and "GSN".
- The IJNAS assigned two squadrons of Mitsubishi A6M5a-52 Zeros to the airfield in mid-June 1944.
- Saipan International Airport (SPN) currently has only 1 runway.
- In 2005, Japan Airlines suspended its services from Japan to SPN.
- The closest airport to Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Tinian International Airport (TIQ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SW of SPN.
Facts about RAF Brize Norton (BZZ):
- The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.
- The station is home to the Administrative Wing, Airport of Embarkation Wing, Depth Support Wing, Forward Support Wing and Operations Wing.
- 101 Squadron reformed at Brize Norton on 1 May 1984, it previously operated the Avro Vulcan and participated in the Operation Black Buck missions of the Falklands War.
- The station is home to Air Transport, Air-to-Air refuelling and Military Parachuting, with aircraft operating from the station including the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and Airbus A330 MRTT Voyager which replaced the now decommissioned Lockheed TriStar in March 2014.
- The furthest airport from RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,888 miles (19,132 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
- Following the Falklands War, the RAF found itself lacking in the strategic transport capabilities required to sustain the expanded military presence there.
- During the 2003 Iraq War four anti-war protesters managed to access the main runway in an attempt to prevent aircraft taking off.
- The Hercules fleet at RAF Lyneham officially moved to Brize Norton on 1 July 2011.
