Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Luang Prabang, Laos:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ), Luang Prabang, Laos would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,789 miles (or 9,316 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 MoD St Athan and Luang Prabang 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 MoD St Athan and Luang Prabang International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• In March 2004, however, DARA announced the loss of 550 jobs at St Athan as part of streamlining to make DARA more efficient and better able to compete with the private sector for lucrative aircraft repair contracts, but also because they lost out to a direct RAF bid for a contract to upgrade the air force's fleet of ageing Harrier jump jet aircraft.
• The furthest airport from MoD St Athan (DGX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• Just before 1100 GMT on 11 February 2009, two Grob Tutor aircraft flying out of St Athan were involved in a mid-air collision in which two Air Training Corps cadets and their instructors, both RAF pilots, died.
• In 2009 building work was due to commence on a new defence training academy with its heart at St Athan.
• The training to be carried out at St Athan was to be specialist phase 2 and phase 3 engineering courses of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• During the war a dummy airfield was built using wood and cardboard a few miles west of the original airfield and successful efforts were made to hide the proper field.
• The station officially opened as RAF St Athan on 1 September 1938 and the first unit to take up residence was No 4 School of Technical Training.
• Because of MoD St Athan's relatively low elevation of 163 feet, planes can take off or land at MoD St Athan 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.

Facts about Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ):

• The closest airport to Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ) is Sayaboury Airport (ZBY), which is located 54 miles (86 kilometers) SSW of LPQ.
• The furthest airport from Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ) is Maria Reiche Neuman Airport (NZC), which is nearly antipodal to Luang Prabang International Airport (meaning Luang Prabang International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maria Reiche Neuman Airport), and is located 12,040 miles (19,377 kilometers) away in Nazca, Ica Region, Peru.
• Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Luang Prabang International Airport", another name for LPQ is "ສະຫນາມບິນສາກົນຫຼວງພະບາງ".
• Because of Luang Prabang International Airport's relatively low elevation of 955 feet, planes can take off or land at Luang Prabang 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.