Nonstop flight route between Kirakira, Makira Island, Solomon Islands and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kirakira Airport (IRA), Kirakira, Makira Island, Solomon Islands and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,488 miles (or 15,270 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 Kirakira Airport and MoD St Athan, 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 Kirakira Airport and MoD St Athan. 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 Kirakira Airport (IRA):

• In addition to being known as "Kirakira Airport", another name for IRA is "Ngorangora Airstrip".
• The closest airport to Kirakira Airport (IRA) is Ulawa Airport (RNA), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) N of IRA.
• The furthest airport from Kirakira Airport (IRA) is Cap Skirring Airport (CSK), which is nearly antipodal to Kirakira Airport (meaning Kirakira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap Skirring Airport), and is located 12,273 miles (19,752 kilometers) away in Cap Skirring, Senegal.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• St Athan also became the major RAF maintenance base for Vulcan, Victor, Buccaner, Phantom, Harrier, Tornado, Jaguar, Hawk and VC10 aircraft, originally under direct RAF control, but latterly under the auspices of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• The two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 15, and Nikitta Walters, 14.