Nonstop flight route between Yanbu (Yenbo), Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Yanbu International Airport (YNB), Yanbu (Yenbo), Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,829 miles (or 4,554 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 Yanbu International 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 Yanbu International 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 Yanbu International Airport (YNB):

• In addition to being known as "Yanbu International Airport", another name for YNB is "Prince Abdul Mohsin bin Abdulaziz Airport".
• Yanbu International Airport (YNB) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 24 December 2009, Egypt's AlMasria Universal Airlines became the first international airline to serve the airport.
• The furthest airport from Yanbu International Airport (YNB) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to Yanbu International Airport (meaning Yanbu International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,120 miles (19,504 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
• The ground floor features a shopping area as well as a cafe offering a variety of hot and cold sandwiches, pastries, ice-cream, and other desserts.
• The closest airport to Yanbu International Airport (YNB) is Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED), which is located 107 miles (172 kilometers) ENE of YNB.
• Because of Yanbu International Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Yanbu 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.

Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
• 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.
• 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 Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
• 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.