Nonstop flight route between Camp Pohakuloa, Hawaii, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pōhakuloa Training Area (BSF), Camp Pohakuloa, Hawaii, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,236 miles (or 11,645 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 Pōhakuloa Training Area 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 Pōhakuloa Training Area 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 Pōhakuloa Training Area (BSF):

• The name of the current facility comes from puʻu pōhaku loa, which means "long rocky cinder cone" in the Hawaiian Language, although like many other Hawaiian names, the same name has been used for other places on the island.
• The furthest airport from Pōhakuloa Training Area (BSF) is Maun Airport (MUB), which is nearly antipodal to Pōhakuloa Training Area (meaning Pōhakuloa Training Area is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maun Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,925 kilometers) away in Maun, Botswana.
• The closest airport to Pōhakuloa Training Area (BSF) is Waimea-Kohala Airport (MUE), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NNE of BSF.
• The area of 108,863 acres is the largest United States Department of Defense installation in the state of Hawaii, or anywhere in the Pacific.
• Vegetation varies from sparse grassland and low shrubs to open māmane forest.

Facts about MoD St Athan (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 (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• Just before 1100 GMT on 11 February 2009, two Grob Tutor aircraft flying out of St Athan were involved in a mid-air collision in which two Air Training Corps cadets and their instructors, both RAF pilots, died.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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 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.