Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Ta'if, Saudi Arabia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to TIF:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- TIF Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about TIF
- 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 TIF
- List of Nearest Airports to TIF
- Map of Furthest Airports from TIF
- List of Furthest Airports from TIF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF), Ta'if, Saudi Arabia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,071 miles (or 4,943 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 Ta'if Regional 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 Ta'if Regional 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: | TIF / OETF |
Airport Name: | Ta'if Regional Airport |
Location: | Ta'if, Saudi Arabia |
GPS Coordinates: | 21°29'0"N by 40°32'29"E |
Area Served: | Ta’if |
Operator/Owner: | Military of Saudi Arabia |
Airport Type: | Military/Public |
Elevation: | 4848 feet (1,478 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from TIF |
More Information: | TIF 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.
- Fairford was chosen in 1969 as the British test centre for the Concorde aircraft, which continued until 1977.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- 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.
- Due to RAF Fairford's location and infrastructure, the airfield is designated as a forward operating location for the US Air Force.
- 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.
Facts about Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF):
- The closest airport to Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF) is King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED), which is located 90 miles (145 kilometers) W of TIF.
- The furthest airport from Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to Ta'if Regional Airport (meaning Ta'if Regional Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,361 miles (19,893 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
- Because of Ta'if Regional Airport's high elevation of 4,848 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at TIF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make TIF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF) has 2 runways.