Nonstop flight route between Bucharest, Romania and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (BBU), Bucharest, Romania and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,436 miles (or 2,311 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 Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu 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 Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (BBU):

• Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport handled 6,036 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport", another name for BBU is "Aeroportul Internaţional Bucureşti Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu".
• Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (BBU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (BBU) is Bucharest Henri Coandǎ International Airport (OTP), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) N of BBU.
• Because of Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport's relatively low elevation of 299 feet, planes can take off or land at Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu 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.
• In 1920, the airport headquartered the first aviation company in Romania, and one of the earliest in the world, the CFRNA, the precursor of the Romanian national airline, TAROM.
• The building is a late 1940s design, and was not built to cope with more than 600,000 passengers per year and departures every 25 minutes.
• The furthest airport from Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (BBU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,321 miles (18,219 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• An extension of the Bucharest Metro system to Aurel Vlaicu International, as Metro Line M6, which will link it to the Main Train Station and the larger Henri Coandă International Airport, was approved in June 2006 and is currently in its planning stage.
• As of 25 March 2012, all commercial flight operations have been moved to Bucharest Henri Coandă Airport.
• The current terminal building was designed in the late 1940s and opened in 1952.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• 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 station officially opened as RAF St Athan on 1 September 1938 and the first unit to take up residence was No 4 School of Technical Training.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of 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.
• 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.
• 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.