Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to RUH:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- RUH Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about RUH
- 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 RUH
- List of Nearest Airports to RUH
- Map of Furthest Airports from RUH
- List of Furthest Airports from RUH
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and King Khalid International Airport (RUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,129 miles (or 5,035 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 King Khalid International 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 King Khalid International 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: | RUH / OERK |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
GPS Coordinates: | 24°57'28"N by 46°41'56"E |
Area Served: | Riyadh |
Operator/Owner: | The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 2049 feet (625 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from RUH |
More Information: | RUH 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.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- The 422nd ABG at RAF Croughton and the 420th Air Base Squadron are responsible for the day-to-day operations of RAF Fairford, ensuring that it has adequate resources.
- 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.
- 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.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
Facts about King Khalid International Airport (RUH):
- In addition to being known as "King Khalid International Airport", another name for RUH is "مطار الملك خالد الدولي".
- King Khalid International Airport (RUH) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to King Khalid International Airport (meaning King Khalid International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,273 miles (19,752 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
- The closest airport to King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is Dawadmi Domestic Airport (DWD), which is located 166 miles (266 kilometers) WSW of RUH.
- KKIA was the first airport in the Kingdom to install airbridges, to speed up handling and turnaround times.
- King Khalid International Airport handled 13,919,000 passengers last year.
- Centrally located in the passenger terminal complex, between the Royal Pavilion and the mosque is the air traffic control tower standing at 81 metres high.
- The United States Air Force effectively took over these facilities temporarily from August 1990 through May 1991 as an airbase for aerial refueling tanker operations in support of the Gulf War.
- The 1703rd ARW was composed mainly of KC-135 Stratotankers and used the north western firehouse as its headquarters of air operations.
- The families of the airport workers are still living in K.K.I.A Housing Facility.