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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Canberra Airport (CBR), Canberra, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,686 miles (or 17,198 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 Canberra 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 Canberra 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):

• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• RAF St Athan was also home for the Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Training School.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.

Facts about Canberra Airport (CBR):

• Canberra Airport handled 3,206,103 passengers last year.
• Several new hangars and buildings have been erected in both Fairbairn and near the terminal.
• The airport was built up from an old airstrip that was first laid down in the 1920s, not long after the National Capital site was decided.
• Canberra Airport (CBR) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Canberra Airport (CBR) is Goulburn Airport (GUL), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) NE of CBR.
• Construction of the Southern Concourse was completed in late 2010 and came into service on 14 November.
• In 2010, 8 Brindabella Circuit, a building located in the administration area of the Airport precinct, won the 5 Green Stars Australian Excellence Award.
• In addition to being known as "Canberra Airport", another name for CBR is "Canberra International Airport".
• The furthest airport from Canberra Airport (CBR) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is nearly antipodal to Canberra Airport (meaning Canberra Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Horta International Airport), and is located 12,187 miles (19,612 kilometers) away in Horta, Azores, Portugal.