Nonstop flight route between Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Christchurch, New Zealand:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from FFD to CHC:
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- About this route
- FFD Airport Information
- CHC Airport Information
- Facts about FFD
- Facts about CHC
- 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 CHC
- List of Nearest Airports to CHC
- Map of Furthest Airports from CHC
- List of Furthest Airports from CHC
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Fairford (FFD), Fairford, England, United Kingdom and Christchurch International Airport (CHC), Christchurch, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,812 miles (or 19,010 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 Christchurch International 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 Christchurch International 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: | CHC / NZCH |
Airport Name: | Christchurch International Airport |
Location: | Christchurch, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 43°29'21"S by 172°31'55"E |
Area Served: | Christchurch |
Operator/Owner: | Christchurch City Council (75%) NZ Government (25%) |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 123 feet (37 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from CHC |
More Information: | CHC Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF Fairford (FFD):
- KC-135 and KC-10 tankers deployed to Fairford supported Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya in 1986.
- Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were temporarily assigned to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on rotation.
- The closest airport to RAF Fairford (FFD) is RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ENE of FFD.
- 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.
- RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Christchurch International Airport (CHC):
- Christchurch International Airport (CHC) has 3 runways.
- There is also the option of off-airport car parking facilities such as Christchurch Park & Fly offering a low cost alternative to parking at the airport carparks.
- As the gateway for Christchurch and the South Island, Christchurch International Airport is New Zealand’s second largest airport.
- 5,592,529 passengers travelled in and out of Christchurch International Airport from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011.
- Because of Christchurch International Airport's relatively low elevation of 123 feet, planes can take off or land at Christchurch International 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.
- Christchurch International Airport handled 556,096 passengers last year.
- The furthest airport from Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Christchurch International Airport (meaning Christchurch International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,389 miles (19,939 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
- Runway 11/29 will be widened and extended 244m west into the nearby golf course and a RESA will be added to each end to make it comply with ICAO standards.
- Stage 1 of the new terminal, including the new check-in hall, new food/retail precinct, new single domestic security screening, and the new regional departure lounge and baggage claim of the new terminal was completed in May 2011, allowing the old international check-in and the old domestic terminal north of the main pier to be demolished to make way for Stage 2.
- The closest airport to Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is Ashburton Aerodrome (ASG), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) SW of CHC.