Nonstop flight route between Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Takamatsu Airport (TAK), Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,927 miles (or 9,539 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 Takamatsu 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 Takamatsu 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 Takamatsu Airport (TAK):

• Because of Takamatsu Airport's relatively low elevation of 607 feet, planes can take off or land at Takamatsu 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 closest airport to Takamatsu Airport (TAK) is Okayama Airport (OKJ), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) NNW of TAK.
• Takamatsu Airport (TAK) currently has only 1 runway.
• It is equipped with an Instrument Landing System, VHF Omni-directional Radio Range, Distance Measuring Equipment, Airport Surveillance Radar, approach lights, precision approach angle guidance lights, and more.
• In addition to being known as "Takamatsu Airport", other names for TAK include "高松空港" and "Takamatsu Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Takamatsu Airport (TAK) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Takamatsu Airport (meaning Takamatsu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,050 miles (19,393 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.

Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Lyneham's position as the primary tactical transport base for the RAF was emphasised in February 1971 when Nos.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.