Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Sola, Vanua Lava, Torba Province, Vanuatu:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to SLH:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- SLH Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about SLH
- 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 SLH
- List of Nearest Airports to SLH
- Map of Furthest Airports from SLH
- List of Furthest Airports from SLH
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Vanua Lava Airport (SLH), Sola, Vanua Lava, Torba Province, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,756 miles (or 15,701 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 Vanua Lava 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 Vanua Lava 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: | SLH / NVSC |
Airport Name: | Vanua Lava Airport |
Location: | Sola, Vanua Lava, Torba Province, Vanuatu |
GPS Coordinates: | 13°51'6"S by 167°32'12"E |
Area Served: | Vanua Lava, Torba, Vanuatu |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 7 feet (2 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from SLH |
More Information: | SLH Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- 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 is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo, an annual air display.
- 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.
- 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.
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- 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.
Facts about Vanua Lava Airport (SLH):
- The closest airport to Vanua Lava Airport (SLH) is Mota Lava Airport (MTV), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) NE of SLH.
- Because of Vanua Lava Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Vanua Lava 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 Vanua Lava Airport (SLH) is Bakel Airport (BXE), which is nearly antipodal to Vanua Lava Airport (meaning Vanua Lava Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Bakel Airport), and is located 12,368 miles (19,904 kilometers) away in Bakel, Senegal.