Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Hayden, Colorado, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Yampa Valley Airport (HDN), Hayden, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,614 miles (or 7,425 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 Yampa Valley 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 Yampa Valley 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 last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• RAF St Athan was also home for the Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Training School.
• 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• The MOD later decided that DARA's 'Fast Jets' and 'Engines' businesses would close by April 2007, although the 'Large Aircraft' business would continue and, on 14 April 2005, the Project Red Dragon super-hangar opened and DARA moved its VC10 operations from its existing 'Twin Peaks' hangar into the new facility.
• 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.
• In 2009 building work was due to commence on a new defence training academy with its heart at St Athan.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 15, and Nikitta Walters, 14.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Yampa Valley Airport (HDN):

• The airport is in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which called it a primary commercial service airport.Federal Aviation Administration records say it had 136,600 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 122,480 in 2009 and 110,044 in 2010.
• In addition to being known as "Yampa Valley Airport", another name for HDN is "Yampa Valley Regional Airport".
• The airport has two ARFF trucks in the operations garage that are run by full-time and seasonal firefighters.
• Because of Yampa Valley Airport's high elevation of 6,606 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HDN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HDN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Yampa Valley Airport (HDN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Yampa Valley Airport (HDN) is Craig–Moffat Airport (CIG), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) W of HDN.
• The furthest airport from Yampa Valley Airport (HDN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,901 miles (17,543 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Other airlines that have served the airport include Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Pacific Southwest Airlines.