Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Upington, South Africa:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to UTN:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- UTN Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about UTN
- 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 UTN
- List of Nearest Airports to UTN
- Map of Furthest Airports from UTN
- List of Furthest Airports from UTN
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Upington Airport (UTN), Upington, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,708 miles (or 9,185 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 Upington 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 Upington 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: | UTN / FAUP |
Airport Name: | Upington Airport |
Location: | Upington, South Africa |
GPS Coordinates: | 28°24'3"S by 21°15'34"E |
Area Served: | Upington, Northern Cape |
Airport Type: | Public (International for Cargo only) |
Elevation: | 2791 feet (851 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from UTN |
More Information: | UTN Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the U.S.
- On 12 May 2005, USAFE activated the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, to provide support to its GSUs in the United Kingdom.
- 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.
- 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 constructed in 1944 to serve as an airfield for British and American troop carriers and gliders for the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
Facts about Upington Airport (UTN):
- The closest airport to Upington Airport (UTN) is Johan Pienaar Airport (KMH), which is located 147 miles (236 kilometers) ENE of UTN.
- The Concorde did flight testing at Upington Airport in June 1976.
- With the fall of the Portuguese regime in Angola, South African Airways lost its landing rights in Luanda.
- Many major car manufacturers bring their cars and commercial vehicles to Upington to test them in the hot dry and sunny conditions.
- The furthest airport from Upington Airport (UTN) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is nearly antipodal to Upington Airport (meaning Upington Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Princeville Airport), and is located 12,007 miles (19,323 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.
- Upington Airport (UTN) has 3 runways.