Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Ankang, Shaanxi, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Ankang Wulipu Airport (AKA), Ankang, Shaanxi, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,330 miles (or 8,577 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 MoD St Athan and Ankang Wulipu 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 MoD St Athan and Ankang Wulipu 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 MoD St Athan (DGX):

• Just before 1100 GMT on 11 February 2009, two Grob Tutor aircraft flying out of St Athan were involved in a mid-air collision in which two Air Training Corps cadets and their instructors, both RAF pilots, died.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The MOD later decided that DARA's 'Fast Jets' and 'Engines' businesses would close by April 2007, although the 'Large Aircraft' business would continue and, on 14 April 2005, the Project Red Dragon super-hangar opened and DARA moved its VC10 operations from its existing 'Twin Peaks' hangar into the new facility.
• The new academy was claimed to create up to 5000 jobs at St Athan with a £14 billion investment over 25 years with an estimated £57.4 million spent into the local economy.
• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.

Facts about Ankang Wulipu Airport (AKA):

• Ankang Wulipu Airport (AKA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Ankang Wulipu Airport (AKA) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is nearly antipodal to Ankang Wulipu Airport (meaning Ankang Wulipu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Viña del Mar Airport), and is located 12,408 miles (19,968 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
• The airport was first built in 1938 for military use and expanded in 1945.
• The closest airport to Ankang Wulipu Airport (AKA) is Shennongjia Hongping Airport (HPG), which is located 111 miles (178 kilometers) SE of AKA.
• In addition to being known as "Ankang Wulipu Airport", other names for AKA include "安康五里铺机场" and "Ānkāng Wǔlǐpù Jīchǎng".
• Because of Ankang Wulipu Airport's relatively low elevation of 860 feet, planes can take off or land at Ankang Wulipu 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.