Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Barcelonnette / Saint-Pons, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE), Barcelonnette / Saint-Pons, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 671 miles (or 1,080 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 relatively short distance between MoD St Athan and Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• 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 station officially opened as RAF St Athan on 1 September 1938 and the first unit to take up residence was No 4 School of Technical Training.
• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE):

• Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) is Cuneo International Airport (CUF), which is located 51 miles (82 kilometers) ENE of BAE.
• The furthest airport from Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (meaning Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,280 miles (19,762 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport", another name for BAE is "Aéroport de Barcelonnette-Saint-Pons".