Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Barra del Colorado, Costa Rica:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Barra del Colorado Airport (BCL), Barra del Colorado, Costa Rica would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,215 miles (or 8,392 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 Barra del Colorado 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 Barra del Colorado 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):

• 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 1960s, a driving school was established.
• 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 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 (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• 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 last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.

Facts about Barra del Colorado Airport (BCL):

• The closest airport to Barra del Colorado Airport (BCL) is Tortuguero Airport (TTQ), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) SSE of BCL.
• Barra del Colorado Airport (BCL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Barra del Colorado Airport's relatively low elevation of 3 feet, planes can take off or land at Barra del Colorado 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 Barra del Colorado Airport (BCL) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Barra del Colorado Airport (meaning Barra del Colorado Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,335 miles (19,851 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Barra del Colorado Airport", another name for BCL is "Aeropuerto de Barra del Colorado".