Nonstop flight route between Dargaville, New Zealand and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR), Dargaville, New Zealand and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,360 miles (or 18,282 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 Dargaville Aerodrome and MoD St Athan, 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 Dargaville Aerodrome and MoD St Athan. 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 Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR):

• The closest airport to Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR) is Whangarei Airport (WRE), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) ENE of DGR.
• Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR) has 2 runways.
• Dargaville airfield is at sea level at the northern end of the large Kaipara harbour, forming a pair with the similar sea level West Auckland Airport, at Parakai at the southern end of the harbour some 50 miles away.
• Because of Dargaville Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 635 feet, planes can take off or land at Dargaville Aerodrome 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 Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR) is Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport (TNG), which is nearly antipodal to Dargaville Aerodrome (meaning Dargaville Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport), and is located 12,419 miles (19,986 kilometers) away in Tangier, Morocco.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• St Athan also became the major RAF maintenance base for Vulcan, Victor, Buccaner, Phantom, Harrier, Tornado, Jaguar, Hawk and VC10 aircraft, originally under direct RAF control, but latterly under the auspices of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency.
• Because of MoD St Athan's relatively low elevation of 163 feet, planes can take off or land at MoD St Athan 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 March 2004, however, DARA announced the loss of 550 jobs at St Athan as part of streamlining to make DARA more efficient and better able to compete with the private sector for lucrative aircraft repair contracts, but also because they lost out to a direct RAF bid for a contract to upgrade the air force's fleet of ageing Harrier jump jet aircraft.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• The furthest airport from MoD St Athan (DGX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• During the war a dummy airfield was built using wood and cardboard a few miles west of the original airfield and successful efforts were made to hide the proper field.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.