Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Gusap, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Gusap Airport (GAP), Gusap, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,847 miles (or 14,239 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 Gusap 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 Gusap 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 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.
• 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.
• 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 last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.

Facts about Gusap Airport (GAP):

• The closest airport to Gusap Airport (GAP) is Aiyura Airport (AYU), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) S of GAP.
• Gusap Airport (GAP) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Gusap Airport", another name for GAP is "Gusap Airport".
• The furthest airport from Gusap Airport (GAP) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,743 miles (18,899 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.