Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to SWS:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- SWS Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about SWS
- 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 SWS
- List of Nearest Airports to SWS
- Map of Furthest Airports from SWS
- List of Furthest Airports from SWS
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Swansea Airport (SWS), Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 98 miles (or 157 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 Swansea Airport, 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: | SWS / EGFH |
Airport Name: | Swansea Airport |
Location: | Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°36'19"N by 4°4'4"W |
Operator/Owner: | Swansea Airport Ltd. |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 299 feet (91 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from SWS |
More Information: | SWS Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
- 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.
- 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.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- 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 Swansea Airport (SWS):
- The Welsh Assembly Government is currently conducting studies into improving the facilities at the airport as part of the transport infrastructure development strategy for the whole of Wales.
- Located on the eastern part of the site is the airport's only terminal building with seats for 25 passengers.
- The furthest airport from Swansea Airport (SWS) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,966 miles (19,257 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
- Swansea Airport (SWS) has 2 runways.
- There has been widespread local opposition against the idea of further development of the airport.
- The closest airport to Swansea Airport (SWS) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) ESE of SWS.
- From 2008 to 2011 the airport was the base for the formation aerobatic team 'Team Osprey'.
- The 1990s saw the arrival of Heli-air Wales to the airport, and so began the era of Helicopter Training in South Wales.
- Because of Swansea Airport's relatively low elevation of 299 feet, planes can take off or land at Swansea 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.