Nonstop flight route between Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom and West Chicago, Illinois, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom and DuPage Airport (DPA), West Chicago, Illinois, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,850 miles (or 6,196 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 Cardiff Airport and DuPage 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 Cardiff Airport and DuPage 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 Cardiff Airport (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.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 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.
• The airport was the main base for three local airlines.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 16 May 2012, it was announced that airport Managing Director, Patrick Duffy, had left his position amid mounting pressure from the Welsh Government on the airport owners Abertis to improve the state of the airport and improve the services it offers, or sell the facility to an investor in a proposed public-private partnership.
• In 2012, the airport ran into a barrage of sustained criticism from the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones.

Facts about DuPage Airport (DPA):

• In the late 1970s, DuPage Airport was designated a reliever airport for general aviation aircraft, and in the early 1980s, the airport authority began an expansion project to accommodate the increased traffic.
• The furthest airport from DuPage Airport (DPA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,056 miles (17,792 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• DuPage Airport (DPA) has 4 runways.
• The closest airport to DuPage Airport (DPA) is Chicago/Aurora Municipal Airport (AUZ), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) SW of DPA.
• Because of DuPage Airport's relatively low elevation of 759 feet, planes can take off or land at DuPage 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.