Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Avalon, Victoria, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Avalon Airport (AVV), Avalon, Victoria, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,619 miles (or 17,090 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 Avalon 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 Avalon 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):

• 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.
• The training to be carried out at St Athan was to be specialist phase 2 and phase 3 engineering courses of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF St Athan has been used to house a number of army units throughout its life and, in 2003, the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards moved from Aldershot to St Athan - the first time they have been based in Wales since they were formed in 1915.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.

Facts about Avalon Airport (AVV):

• Avalon is currently used by Jetstar Airways, for domestic passenger flights; is leased by Qantas as a heavy maintenance facility.
• The closest airport to Avalon Airport (AVV) is Geelong Airport (GEX), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) SE of AVV.
• In 2013, Virgin Airways announced its take-over bid to purchase a 60% share of the ailing airline, which was approved by the ACCC after a protracted investigation to ensure that airlines and domestic airfares remained competitive to the general public.
• In addition to being known as "Avalon Airport", another name for AVV is "Melbourne/Avalon".
• Currently the airport alone hosts Jetstar Airways, who offer five flights per day to Sydney and Brisbane, using the Airbus A320.
• On 27 June 1995 Aerospace Technologies of Australia was privatised by the Commonwealth Government, selling the aircraft divisions to Rockwell Australia Limited, and the airport operations to Avalon Airport Geelong Pty Ltd.
• In 1985 the Government Aircraft Factories changed its name to Aerospace Technologies of Australia.
• Because of Avalon Airport's relatively low elevation of 115 feet, planes can take off or land at Avalon 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 Avalon Airport (AVV) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Avalon Airport (meaning Avalon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,165 miles (19,578 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Avalon Airport (AVV) currently has only 1 runway.