Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Mário Pereira Lopes State Airport (QSC), São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,735 miles (or 9,229 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 Mário Pereira Lopes State 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 Mário Pereira Lopes State 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 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.
• 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 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 last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• 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 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.

Facts about Mário Pereira Lopes State Airport (QSC):

• Mário Pereira Lopes State Airport is the airport serving São Carlos, Brazil.
• In 2002, with the closure of the former São Carlos Airport, which was closer to town, the resident São Carlos Aero Club was transferred to Mário Pereira Lopes Airport.
• The airport was built in the 1970s as a private aerodrome of a Brazilian tractor manufacturer.
• The closest airport to Mário Pereira Lopes State Airport (QSC) is Bartolomeu de Gusmão State Airport (AQA), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) WNW of QSC.
• Mário Pereira Lopes State Airport (QSC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Mário Pereira Lopes State Airport (QSC) is Minami-Daito Airport (MMD), which is nearly antipodal to Mário Pereira Lopes State Airport (meaning Mário Pereira Lopes State Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Minami-Daito Airport), and is located 12,157 miles (19,566 kilometers) away in Minami Daito, Okinawa, Japan.
• In addition to being known as "Mário Pereira Lopes State Airport", another name for QSC is "Aeroporto Estadual Mário Pereira Lopes".
• Mário Pereira Lopes State Airport handled 1,280 passengers last year.