Nonstop flight route between St. Paul, Minnesota, United States and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP), St. Paul, Minnesota, United States and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,939 miles (or 6,340 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 St. Paul Downtown 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 St. Paul Downtown 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 St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP):

• Recently local debate has ensued over plans to build a flood wall around the airport.
• The furthest airport from St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,764 miles (17,324 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Holman Field Administration Building
• Holman Field was named for Charles W.
• The closest airport to St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP) is Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain Airport (MSP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) WSW of STP.
• St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP) has 3 runways.
• In addition to being known as "St. Paul Downtown Airport", another name for STP is "Holman Field".
• Because of St. Paul Downtown Airport's relatively low elevation of 705 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Paul Downtown 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):

• In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.