Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Pelotas International Airport (PET), Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,464 miles (or 10,403 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 Pelotas 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 Pelotas 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):

• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Pelotas International Airport (PET):

• Pelotas International Airport (PET) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Pelotas International Airport (PET) is Fukue Airport (FUJ), which is nearly antipodal to Pelotas International Airport (meaning Pelotas International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fukue Airport), and is located 12,342 miles (19,863 kilometers) away in Gotō, Nagasaki, Japan.
• Pelotas International Airport is the airport serving Pelotas, Brazil.
• Pelotas International Airport handled 9,965 passengers last year.
• In 1997 the whole airport complex was extensively renovated and a new terminal was opened in 1998.
• The closest airport to Pelotas International Airport (PET) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) SSE of PET.
• Because of Pelotas International Airport's relatively low elevation of 59 feet, planes can take off or land at Pelotas 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.
• It is operated by Infraero.
• In addition to being known as "Pelotas International Airport", another name for PET is "Aeroporto Internacional de Pelotas".