Nonstop flight route between Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom and Middleton Island, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom and Middleton Island Airport (MDO), Middleton Island, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,503 miles (or 7,247 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 Middleton Island 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 Middleton Island 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 history of the airport extends back to the early 1940s, when the Air Ministry requisitioned land in the rural Vale of Glamorgan to set up a wartime satellite aerodrome and training base, named RAF Rhoose, for Royal Air Force Spitfire pilots.
• In the 1970s, the supersonic airliner Concorde made a few flights into the airport on special occasions.
• 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.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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 December 1995, Heli-air Wales began training Helicopter Pilots from the Airport's southside, and are widely accredited with pioneering Helicopter Training in Wales.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.

Facts about Middleton Island Airport (MDO):

• Middleton Island Airport (MDO) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Middleton Island Airport (MDO) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,639 miles (17,122 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Middleton Island Airport (MDO) is Boswell Bay Airport (BSW), which is located 67 miles (109 kilometers) N of MDO.
• Because of Middleton Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 100 feet, planes can take off or land at Middleton Island 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.