Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Hanimaadhoo, Haa Dhaalu Atoll, Maldives:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Hanimaadhoo International Airport (HAQ), Hanimaadhoo, Haa Dhaalu Atoll, Maldives would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,278 miles (or 8,494 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 Hanimaadhoo International 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 Hanimaadhoo International 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Hanimaadhoo International Airport (HAQ):

• Because of Hanimaadhoo International Airport's relatively low elevation of 3 feet, planes can take off or land at Hanimaadhoo International 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 Hanimaadhoo International Airport (HAQ) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,215 miles (18,049 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• Hanimaadhoo International Airport (HAQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Hanimaadhoo International Airport (HAQ) is Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (MLE), which is located 178 miles (287 kilometers) S of HAQ.
• In addition to being known as "Hanimaadhoo International Airport", another name for HAQ is "ހަނިމާދޫ ބައިނަލްއަޤުވާމީ ވައިގެ ބަނދަރު".