Nonstop flight route between Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom and Tacoma Narrows Airport (TIW), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,730 miles (or 7,612 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 Tacoma Narrows 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 Tacoma Narrows 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):

• 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.
• In the 1970s, the supersonic airliner Concorde made a few flights into the airport on special occasions.
• The man who decided Rhoose could be the site of a new Airport was David Rees-Williams a Bridgend-born solicitor who had served as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Artillery during the WW2 and who.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• In 2012, the airport ran into a barrage of sustained criticism from the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones.
• 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 Tacoma Narrows Airport (TIW):

• The closest airport to Tacoma Narrows Airport (TIW) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) SSE of TIW.
• Because of Tacoma Narrows Airport's relatively low elevation of 294 feet, planes can take off or land at Tacoma Narrows 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 Tacoma Narrows Airport (TIW) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,797 miles (17,376 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Tacoma Narrows Airport (TIW) currently has only 1 runway.
• Tacoma Narrows Airport is a county owned, public use airport located 5 mi west of the central business district of Tacoma, a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States.
• Tacoma Narrows Airport covers an area of 644 acres at an elevation of 294 feet above mean sea level.