Nonstop flight route between Asau, Samoa and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Asau Airport (AAU), Asau, Samoa and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,750 miles (or 15,690 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 Asau 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 Asau 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 Asau Airport (AAU):

• The furthest airport from Asau Airport (AAU) is Maradi Airport (MFQ), which is nearly antipodal to Asau Airport (meaning Asau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maradi Airport), and is located 12,419 miles (19,987 kilometers) away in Maradi, Niger.
• In 2003, a cyclone swept past Samoa and most of the South Pacific.
• The closest airport to Asau Airport (AAU) is Maota (Salelologa) Airport (MXS), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) ESE of AAU.
• Only Twin Otter and Britten-Norman Islander planes can land and take off this small airport, generally because the runway and tarmac cannot handle any other larger and heavier aircraft.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 15, and Nikitta Walters, 14.
• 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
• The MOD later decided that DARA's 'Fast Jets' and 'Engines' businesses would close by April 2007, although the 'Large Aircraft' business would continue and, on 14 April 2005, the Project Red Dragon super-hangar opened and DARA moved its VC10 operations from its existing 'Twin Peaks' hangar into the new facility.
• After the war, airmen of the Airframe and Engine trades continued to train at St Athan, but in 1955 this training dispersed to RAF Kirkham and RAF Weeton.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.