Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Praslin Island, Seychelles:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Praslin Island Airport (PRI), Praslin Island, Seychelles would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,176 miles (or 8,330 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 Praslin Island 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 Praslin Island 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• The new academy was claimed to create up to 5000 jobs at St Athan with a £14 billion investment over 25 years with an estimated £57.4 million spent into the local economy.
• 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 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 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 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.

Facts about Praslin Island Airport (PRI):

• Praslin Island Airport (PRI) currently has only 1 runway.
• Praslin Island Airport also known as Iles des Palmes Airport, is an airport located at Grand Anse on Praslin Island in the Seychelles.
• In addition to being known as "Praslin Island Airport", another name for PRI is "FSPP".
• Because of Praslin Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Praslin Island 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.
• The closest airport to Praslin Island Airport (PRI) is Frégate Island Airport (FRK), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) SE of PRI.
• The furthest airport from Praslin Island Airport (PRI) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,032 miles (17,755 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.