Nonstop flight route between St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Thomas Municipal Airport (YQS), St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,585 miles (or 5,770 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. Thomas Municipal 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. Thomas Municipal 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. Thomas Municipal Airport (YQS):

• The airport is in uncontrolled airspace but has a UNICOM operating during working hours on 122.70 MHz.
• The closest airport to St. Thomas Municipal Airport (YQS) is London international Airport (YXU), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) N of YQS.
• The furthest airport from St. Thomas Municipal Airport (YQS) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,370 miles (18,298 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• St. Thomas Municipal Airport (YQS) has 3 runways.
• Because of St. Thomas Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 779 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Thomas Municipal 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):

• 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.
• 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 constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
• The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
• 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 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.