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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom and Valley International Airport (HRL), Harlingen, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,999 miles (or 8,044 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 Valley International 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 Valley International 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):

• 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.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• In 2006 the Irish low cost carrier Ryanair withdrew from the airport ending 5 years of service on the Cardiff to Dublin route daily.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• On 1 April 1965 the Ministry of Aviation handed over the airport to Glamorgan County Council and it was renamed Glamorgan Airport.
• 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.
• 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 early December 2013 Flybe announced it would drop its Paris and Glasgow services with effect from January 2014.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Valley International Airport (HRL):

• Valley International Airport covers 2,428 acres at an elevation of 36 feet.
• Valley International Airport (HRL) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Valley International Airport (HRL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,151 miles (17,946 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• After the airport's closure by the military, it was turned over to the local government and converted to civil use as Valley International Airport after Hurricane Beulah flooded the original Harlingen civil airport in 1967.
• Because of Valley International Airport's relatively low elevation of 36 feet, planes can take off or land at Valley 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.
• The closest airport to Valley International Airport (HRL) is Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport (BRO), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SSE of HRL.