Nonstop flight route between Albert Lea, Minnesota, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Albert Lea Municipal Airport (AEL), Albert Lea, Minnesota, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,962 miles (or 6,377 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 Albert Lea Municipal Airport and Cardiff 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 Albert Lea Municipal Airport and Cardiff 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 Albert Lea Municipal Airport (AEL):

• The closest airport to Albert Lea Municipal Airport (AEL) is Austin Municipal Airport (AUM), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) E of AEL.
• From 1990-2008 Albert Lea was the host site for the International Aerobatic Club Doug Yost Challenge Aerobatic Competition.
• Albert Lea Municipal Airport was recently granted over $3 million in federal economic stimulus funds to relocate the main runway.
• The furthest airport from Albert Lea Municipal Airport (AEL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,773 miles (17,338 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Albert Lea Municipal Airport (AEL) has 2 runways.
• Albert Lea Municipal Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located three nautical miles north of the central business district of the city of Albert Lea, in Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• In 2012, the airport ran into a barrage of sustained criticism from the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones.
• However, it emerged that the Airport had applied for £5 million of payments from the Welsh Assembly Government to deal with unspecified development at the terminal.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• The furthest airport from Cardiff Airport (CWL) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,958 miles (19,244 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Also in 1952 Aer Lingus started a service to Dublin.
• Because of Cardiff Airport's relatively low elevation of 220 feet, planes can take off or land at Cardiff 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 airport was used by 2.1 million passengers in 2008, falling to around 1.1 million passengers in 2013, according to the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, a reduction of nearly 50% since 2008, making it the 21st busiest airport in the UK in terms of passenger numbers.
• It was announced on 28 October 2011, that Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling are to open a new route to Barcelona commencing 27 March 2012 operating the route three times per week.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.