Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Cape Lisburne, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport (LUR), Cape Lisburne, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,079 miles (or 6,565 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 Cape Lisburne LRRS 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 Cape Lisburne LRRS 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• RAF St Athan has been used to house a number of army units throughout its life and, in 2003, the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards moved from Aldershot to St Athan - the first time they have been based in Wales since they were formed in 1915.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.

Facts about Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport (LUR):

• The closest airport to Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport (LUR) is Point Hope Airport (PHO), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) SSW of LUR.
• Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport is a military airport located on Cape Lisburne, at the northwest point of the Lisburne Peninsula in the North Slope Borough of the U.S.
• The furthest airport from Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport (LUR) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,433 miles (16,790 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• Because of Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Cape Lisburne LRRS 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.
• It is located within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Alaska, between the Arctic Ocean and the Chuckchi Sea.
• Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport has one runway designated 8/26 with a gravel surface measuring 4,805 by 135 feet.
• Cape Lisburne Airport is a United States Air Force military airstrip.
• Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport (LUR) currently has only 1 runway.