Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Idaho Falls, Idaho, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA), Idaho Falls, Idaho, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,617 miles (or 7,430 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 Idaho Falls Regional 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 Idaho Falls Regional 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 MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• 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 only squadrons to operate out of St Athan on a regular basis are the University of Wales Air Squadron, flying Grob Tutors and No 634 Volunteer Gliding Squadron using Vigilant T.1s.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.

Facts about Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA):

• The 2013 Federal sequester will result in the closure of the airport's control tower and will require pilots to rely on air traffic controllers from other area airports.
• Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA) is Dubois Municipal Airport (DBS), which is located 45 miles (73 kilometers) N of IDA.
• The airport has struggled to maintain a restaurant operator in the past.
• Because of Idaho Falls Regional Airport's high elevation of 4,744 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at IDA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make IDA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Idaho Falls Regional Airport", another name for IDA is "Fanning Field".
• The furthest airport from Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,774 miles (17,339 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.