Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Desroches Island, Seychelles:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to DES:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- DES Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about DES
- 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 DES
- List of Nearest Airports to DES
- Map of Furthest Airports from DES
- List of Furthest Airports from DES
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Desroches Island Airport (DES), Desroches Island, Seychelles would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,127 miles (or 8,252 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 Desroches Island 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 Desroches Island 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: | DES / FSDR |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Desroches Island, Seychelles |
GPS Coordinates: | 5°41'41"S by 53°39'1"E |
Operator/Owner: | Island Deveoplment Company (IDC) |
Airport Type: | Private |
Elevation: | 10 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from DES |
More Information: | DES Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.
- 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 Desroches Island Airport (DES):
- In addition to being known as "Desroches Island Airport", another name for DES is "Desroches Island".
- Because of Desroches Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Desroches Island 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 Desroches Island Airport (DES) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,058 miles (17,796 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
- The closest airport to Desroches Island Airport (DES) is Seychelles International Airport (SEZ), which is located 147 miles (236 kilometers) ENE of DES.
- Desroches Island Airport (DES) currently has only 1 runway.