Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Leeuwarden, Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR), Leeuwarden, Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 408 miles (or 657 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 relatively short distance between MoD St Athan and Leeuwarden Air Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• In 2009 building work was due to commence on a new defence training academy with its heart at St Athan.
• 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 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.

Facts about Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR):

• Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR) has 2 runways.
• In 2016 a squadron of MQ-9 Reapers will be based at Leeuwarden Air Base to be fully operational as of 2017.
• After the liberation of the Netherlands, the airbase was repaired.
• The furthest airport from Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,778 miles (18,955 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Leeuwarden Air Base", another name for LWR is "Vliegbasis Leeuwarden".
• Because of Leeuwarden Air Base's relatively low elevation of 3 feet, planes can take off or land at Leeuwarden Air Base 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 Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR) is Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) ESE of LWR.