Nonstop flight route between West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE), West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,932 miles (or 6,328 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 Columbia Metropolitan 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 Columbia Metropolitan 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 Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE):

• In August 1996, the UPS-owned cargo airline opened an $80 million southeastern regional hub at the airport, one of six regional hubs throughout the United States.
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport handled 1,027,699 passengers last year.
• In November 1982, Piedmont Airlines returned to Columbia with flights to Charlotte and later Newark.
• The closest airport to Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport (CUB), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ENE of CAE.
• Because of Columbia Metropolitan Airport's relatively low elevation of 236 feet, planes can take off or land at Columbia Metropolitan 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 Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,508 miles (18,520 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The airport was built in the 1940 as Lexington County Airport.
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) has 2 runways.
• Training at Columbia Army Air Base was phased down during the summer of 1945.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• 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.
• 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.
• Passenger numbers increased from 2012 to 2013 which shows that Cardiff is making a slow recovery to try to reach passenger levels achieved over 10 years ago.
• In 2006 the Irish low cost carrier Ryanair withdrew from the airport ending 5 years of service on the Cardiff to Dublin route daily.
• On 1 April 1965 the Ministry of Aviation handed over the airport to Glamorgan County Council and it was renamed Glamorgan Airport.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• On 2 March 2009 the airport management revealed a name change for the airport along with initial development plans to improve the image of the facility.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".