Nonstop flight route between Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada and Fairford, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from YQU to FFD:
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- About this route
- YQU Airport Information
- FFD Airport Information
- Facts about YQU
- Facts about FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to YQU
- List of Nearest Airports to YQU
- Map of Furthest Airports from YQU
- List of Furthest Airports from YQU
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grande Prairie Airport (YQU), Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada and RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,224 miles (or 6,797 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 Grande Prairie 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 Grande Prairie Airport and RAF Fairford. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | YQU / CYQU |
| Airport Name: | Grande Prairie Airport |
| Location: | Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada |
| GPS Coordinates: | 55°10'47"N by 118°53'4"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Grande Prairie Airport Commission |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 2195 feet (669 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from YQU |
| More Information: | YQU Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | FFD / EGVA |
| Airport Name: | RAF Fairford |
| Location: | Fairford, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'55"N by 1°47'24"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from FFD |
| More Information: | FFD Maps & Info |
Facts about Grande Prairie Airport (YQU):
- The furthest airport from Grande Prairie Airport (YQU) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,233 miles (16,469 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- Grande Prairie Airport (YQU) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Grande Prairie Airport (YQU) is Dawson Creek Airport (YDQ), which is located 64 miles (103 kilometers) NW of YQU.
Facts about RAF Fairford (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.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- 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.
