RAF Fairford

RAF Fairford
Near Fairford, Gloucestershire in England
A Boeing B-52H Stratofortress taxis along the flight line at RAF Fairford
EGVA Shown within Gloucestershire
Coordinates	51°40′56″N 001°47′24″W / 51.68222°N 1.79000°W / 51.68222; -1.79000Coordinates: 51°40′56″N 001°47′24″W / 51.68222°N 1.79000°W / 51.68222; -1.79000
Type	Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force (1944-1950) United States Air Force (1950-Present)
Site history
Built	1943 (1943)
In use	1944-1950 & 1950-Present
Events	Royal International Air Tattoo
Airfield information
Identifiers	IATA: FFD, ICAO: EGVA
Elevation	87 metres (285 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 09/27 3,045 metres (9,990 ft) Asphalt

Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford (IATA: FFD, ICAO: EGVA) is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use. Its most prominent use in recent years has been as an airfield for United States Air Force B-52s during the 2003 Iraq War, Operation Allied Force in 1999, and the first Gulf War in 1991. It is the US Air Force's only European airfield for heavy bombers.

RAF Fairford was the only TransOceanic Abort Landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle in the UK. As well as having a sufficiently long runway for a shuttle landing (the runway is 3,046 m (9,993 ft) long), it also had NASA-trained fire and medical crews stationed on the airfield. The runway is rated with an unrestricted load-bearing capacity, meaning that it can support any aircraft with any type of load.

RAF Fairford is also the home of the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), an annual air display. RIAT is one of the largest airshows in the world, with the 2003 show recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest military airshow ever, with an attendance of 535 aircraft.

On 14 January 2004, the 420th Air Base Group (420 ABG) was established at RAF Fairford to improve the control of its geographically separated units (GSUs) that had been aligned beneath the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall. These units are assigned to airfields at RAF Fairford, RAF Croughton, RAF Alconbury, and RAF Molesworth. The 420 ABG reported directly to 3rd Air Force until 26 May 2004, when the 38th Combat Support Wing (38 CSW) was established at Sembach Annex, Germany.