Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Fairfield, Iowa, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Fairfield Municipal Airport (FFL), Fairfield, Iowa, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,029 miles (or 6,484 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 Fairfield Municipal 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 Fairfield Municipal 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.

Facts about Fairfield Municipal Airport (FFL):

• The furthest airport from Fairfield Municipal Airport (FFL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,880 miles (17,510 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Fairfield Municipal Airport is a public airport located three miles northwest of the central business district of Fairfield, a city in Jefferson County, Iowa, United States.
• A former USAF F-84F Thunderstreak is on static display near the airport terminal.
• The closest airport to Fairfield Municipal Airport (FFL) is Ottumwa Regional Airport (OTM), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) W of FFL.
• Because of Fairfield Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 799 feet, planes can take off or land at Fairfield Municipal 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.
• Fairfield Municipal Airport (FFL) has 2 runways.