Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Daocheng, Sichuan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY), Daocheng, Sichuan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,194 miles (or 8,359 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 Daocheng Yading 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 Daocheng Yading 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):

• 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.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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 Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY):

• The furthest airport from Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is located 11,910 miles (19,167 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.
• The airport was opened with a single scheduled flight between Daocheng and Chengdu, and flights to Chongqing and Barkam are expected to begin before 1 October 2013.
• Because of Daocheng Yading Airport's high elevation of 14,472 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at DCY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make DCY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Daocheng Yading Airport has a single runway that is 4,200 m long and 45 m wide.
• In addition to being known as "Daocheng Yading Airport", other names for DCY include "稻城亚丁机场", "Dàochéng Yàdīng Jīchǎng" and "ZUDC".
• The closest airport to Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY) is Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG), which is located 108 miles (174 kilometers) SSW of DCY.
• Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY) currently has only 1 runway.