Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Rovaniemi, Finland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Rovaniemi Airport (RVN), Rovaniemi, Finland would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,451 miles (or 2,336 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 Rovaniemi Airport, 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):

• 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.
• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 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.
• 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 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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 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.

Facts about Rovaniemi Airport (RVN):

• Rovaniemi Airport (RVN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was built in 1940 with two grass-surfaced runways.
• In addition to being known as "Rovaniemi Airport", another name for RVN is "Rovaniemen lentoasema".
• Because of Rovaniemi Airport's relatively low elevation of 642 feet, planes can take off or land at Rovaniemi 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.
• Rovaniemi Airport handled 309,821 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Rovaniemi Airport (RVN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,658 miles (17,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Rovaniemi Airport (RVN) is Kemi-Tornio Airport (KEM), which is located 64 miles (103 kilometers) SSW of RVN.
• Rovaniemi Airport is the fifth largest airport in Finland.