Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Whangarei, New Zealand:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to WRE:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- WRE Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about WRE
- 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 WRE
- List of Nearest Airports to WRE
- Map of Furthest Airports from WRE
- List of Furthest Airports from WRE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Whangarei Airport (WRE), Whangarei, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,321 miles (or 18,219 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 Whangarei 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 Whangarei 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: | WRE / NZWR |
Airport Name: | Whangarei Airport |
Location: | Whangarei, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 35°46'5"S by 174°21'54"E |
Operator/Owner: | Whangarei District Airport |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 133 feet (41 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from WRE |
More Information: | WRE Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- On 15 September 2009, it was announced that the USAF will withdraw all their uniformed staff from the station by September 2010, after which it will be run on a "care and maintenance" basis.
Facts about Whangarei Airport (WRE):
- The control tower was closed down in 1988 as the airport was too small to warrant the service.
- Whangarei Airport (WRE) has 2 runways.
- The change in aircraft type restored capacity to 136,656 seats available on Air New Zealand per year.
- The furthest airport from Whangarei Airport (WRE) is Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport (TNG), which is nearly antipodal to Whangarei Airport (meaning Whangarei Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport), and is located 12,421 miles (19,989 kilometers) away in Tangier, Morocco.
- The WDC predicts a high growth rate in aircraft movements over the next 15 years, potentially reaching 45,500 aircraft movements by 2027.
- The 1990s saw the introduction of a new airline, Ansett New Zealand, as competition to Air New Zealand.
- The closest airport to Whangarei Airport (WRE) is Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) WSW of WRE.
- On 19 November 1955 a Tiger Moth owned by the Northland Districts Aero Club crashed into Whangarei Harbour and two people were injured.
- Because of Whangarei Airport's relatively low elevation of 133 feet, planes can take off or land at Whangarei 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.
- In 2008, Salt Air begun an "xpress" service between Kerikeri, Whangarei and Auckland.