Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Santa Barbara, California, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to SZN:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- SZN Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about SZN
- 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 SZN
- List of Nearest Airports to SZN
- Map of Furthest Airports from SZN
- List of Furthest Airports from SZN
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Santa Cruz Island Airport (SZN), Santa Barbara, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,432 miles (or 8,742 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 Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz 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: | SZN / KSZN |
Airport Name: | Santa Cruz Island Airport |
Location: | Santa Barbara, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°3'38"N by 119°54'54"W |
Operator/Owner: | The Nature Conservancy |
Airport Type: | Private |
Elevation: | 50 feet (15 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SZN |
More Information: | SZN Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- In the early years of the Cold War the British and American governments reached an agreement under which elements of the USAF Strategic Air Command would be based in the UK.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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.
Facts about Santa Cruz Island Airport (SZN):
- The closest airport to Santa Cruz Island Airport (SZN) is Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) N of SZN.
- The furthest airport from Santa Cruz Island Airport (SZN) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,512 miles (18,527 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- Santa Cruz Island Airport (SZN) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Santa Cruz Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 50 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Cruz 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.