Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to LYR:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- LYR Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about LYR
- 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 LYR
- List of Nearest Airports to LYR
- Map of Furthest Airports from LYR
- List of Furthest Airports from LYR
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR), Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,885 miles (or 3,034 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 relatively short distance between RAF Fairford and Svalbard Airport, Longyear, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
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: | LYR / ENSB |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway |
GPS Coordinates: | 78°14'45"N by 15°27'56"E |
Area Served: | Svalbard, Norway |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 94 feet (29 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from LYR |
More Information: | LYR Maps & Info |
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.
- 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 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.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
- 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 Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR):
- In addition to being known as "Svalbard Airport, Longyear", another name for LYR is "Svalbard lufthavn, Longyear".
- Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) currently has only 1 runway.
- The airport is located 1.6 nautical miles northwest of Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on Svalbard.
- The runway is 2,483 metres long and aligned 10/28, equipped with instrument landing system, but there are no taxiways.
- The furthest airport from Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,170 miles (16,367 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
- Svalbard Airport, Longyear handled 126,350 passengers last year.
- The first air strip on Svalbard was constructed in Adventdalen, near Longyearbyen, by the Luftwaffe during World War II.
- Because of Svalbard Airport, Longyear's relatively low elevation of 94 feet, planes can take off or land at Svalbard Airport, Longyear 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.
- Construction started in 1973.
- The closest airport to Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) is Honningsvåg Airport, Valan (HVG), which is located 534 miles (859 kilometers) SSE of LYR.
- The first night landing was made on 8 December 1965.