Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport (SHP), Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,257 miles (or 8,460 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 Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan 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 Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan 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 2009 building work was due to commence on a new defence training academy with its heart at St Athan.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• 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 two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 15, and Nikitta Walters, 14.
• 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.
• RAF St Athan was also home for the Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Training School.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.

Facts about Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport (SHP):

• Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport (SHP) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport", other names for SHP include "秦皇岛山海关机场" and "Qínhuángdǎo Shānhǎiguān Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport (SHP) is Tangshan Sannühe Airport (TVS), which is located 94 miles (151 kilometers) W of SHP.
• The furthest airport from Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport (SHP) is Tres Arroyos Airport (OYO), which is nearly antipodal to Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport (meaning Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tres Arroyos Airport), and is located 12,328 miles (19,839 kilometers) away in Tres Arroyos, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.