Nonstop flight route between Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ashgabat International Airport (ASB), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,074 miles (or 4,947 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 Ashgabat International 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 Ashgabat International 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 Ashgabat International Airport (ASB):

• The airport, with its air traffic control tower and a 12,000-foot long precision approach runway, opened in 1994 and was named after the country's first president, Saparmyrat Niyazov.
• Because of Ashgabat International Airport's relatively low elevation of 692 feet, planes can take off or land at Ashgabat 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 closest airport to Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) is Bojnord Airport (BJB), which is located 67 miles (108 kilometers) WSW of ASB.
• The furthest airport from Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,407 miles (18,357 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The Turkmen government opened an international tender in 2012 for the construction of a new international airport in Ashgabat, to be named "Oguz Han".
• Ashgabat International Airport, formerly known as Saparmurat Türkmenbaşy International Airport, is one of three international airports in Turkmenistan.
• In addition to being known as "Ashgabat International Airport", another name for ASB is "Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy halkara aeroporty".
• Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) has 3 runways.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• 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.
• RAF St Athan was also home for the Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Training School.
• 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 MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• 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 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.