Nonstop flight route between Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom and Abilene, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom and Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), Abilene, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,764 miles (or 7,666 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 Dyess Air Force Base, 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 Dyess Air Force Base. 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):

• In 2012, the airport ran into a barrage of sustained criticism from the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In April 1995, due to planned Local Government re-organisation in Wales, the Airport Company was privatised, with shares being sold to property and development firm, TBI plc, which has now been converted back to a private company called TBI Ltd and is concessionary to Orlando Sanford International Airport.
• It was announced on 13 April 2011 that Bmibaby were to close their base at the airport, along with their base at Manchester Airport in the following October in order to redeploy aircraft at their other bases, including the creation of a new operation at Belfast City Airport.
• In the 1970s, the supersonic airliner Concorde made a few flights into the airport on special occasions.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Dyess Air Force Base (DYS):

• On 19 November 1959, the United States Army conducted groundbreaking ceremonies at Dyess AFB for the battalion headquarters of the 5th Missile Battalion, 517th Artillery of the U.S.
• The 317th Airlift Group, an Air Mobility Command tenant unit, performs Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules airlift missions with 28 aircraft assigned.
• The 77th and 69th groups were units that trained reconnaissance personnel who later served overseas.
• The closest airport to Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DYS.
• Dyess AFB is a 6,409-acre base with over 13,000 military and civilian people.
• The furthest airport from Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,080 miles (17,831 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to being known as "Dyess Air Force Base", another name for DYS is "Dyess AFB".
• The base is named after Lt Col William Edwin Dyess, a native of Albany, Texas, who was captured by the Japanese on Bataan in April 1942.