Nonstop flight route between Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ), Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 404 miles (or 650 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 relatively short distance between Aberdeen International Airport and MoD St Athan, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ):

• Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Aberdeen International Airport handled 3,440,765 passengers last year.
• On 8 January 2013, the airport was renamed Aberdeen International.
• During air raids in the Second World War, aircraft were moved to East Fingask beside Oldmeldrum.
• The closest airport to Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) is RAF Lossiemouth (LMO), which is located 55 miles (88 kilometers) NW of ABZ.
• In addition to being known as "Aberdeen International Airport", other names for ABZ include "Aberdeen/Dyce Airport" and "Port-adhair Obar Dheathain".
• The airport is owned and operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings, which also owns and operates three other UK airports, and is itself owned by FGP TopCo Limited, an international consortium, which includes Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and GIC Special Investments, that is led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group.
• Because of Aberdeen International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Aberdeen 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.
• The furthest airport from Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,616 miles (18,694 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• On 6 October 2011, a 124-metre extension to the main runway at the airport was opened, almost eight months ahead of schedule.
• Anti-shipping operations by Coastal Command were carried out from RAF Dyce as well as convoy escort.
• BAA expects to spend £60million on extending the runway farther still to allow bigger, more modern aircraft to fly from Aberdeen to destinations across the Mediterranean, North Africa and North America, as well as building a bigger, better-equipped terminal and new parking stands for aircraft.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• RAF St Athan was also home for the Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Training School.
• The new academy was claimed to create up to 5000 jobs at St Athan with a £14 billion investment over 25 years with an estimated £57.4 million spent into the local economy.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.