Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Butaritari Atoll, Kiribati:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to BBG:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- BBG Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about BBG
- Map of Nearest Airports to FFD
- List of Nearest Airports to FFD
- Map of Furthest Airports from FFD
- List of Furthest Airports from FFD
- Map of Nearest Airports to BBG
- List of Nearest Airports to BBG
- Map of Furthest Airports from BBG
- List of Furthest Airports from BBG
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG), Butaritari Atoll, Kiribati would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,639 miles (or 13,904 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 RAF Fairford and Butaritari Atoll Airport, 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 RAF Fairford and Butaritari Atoll Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure 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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BBG / NGTU |
Airport Name: | Butaritari Atoll Airport |
Location: | Butaritari Atoll, Kiribati |
GPS Coordinates: | 3°5'11"N by 172°48'41"E |
Elevation: | 5 feet (2 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from BBG |
More Information: | BBG Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- 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 closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
Facts about Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG):
- Because of Butaritari Atoll Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Butaritari Atoll 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 furthest airport from Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG) is Cape Palmas Airport (CPA), which is located 11,920 miles (19,183 kilometers) away in Cape Palmas, Liberia.
- Butaritari Atoll Airport is an airport on Butaritari in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati.
- Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Butaritari Atoll Airport (BBG) is Marakei Airport (MZK), which is located 78 miles (126 kilometers) SSE of BBG.