Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and San Tomé, Venezuela:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and San Tomé Airport (SOM), San Tomé, Venezuela would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,490 miles (or 7,225 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 San Tomé 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 San Tomé 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):

• 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 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.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 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 MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.

Facts about San Tomé Airport (SOM):

• Because of San Tomé Airport's relatively low elevation of 837 feet, planes can take off or land at San Tomé 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 furthest airport from San Tomé Airport (SOM) is Selaparang Airport (AMI), which is nearly antipodal to San Tomé Airport (meaning San Tomé Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Selaparang Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,964 kilometers) away in Mataram, Indonesia.
• In addition to being known as "San Tomé Airport", another name for SOM is "Aeropuerto Don Edmundo Barrios".
• The closest airport to San Tomé Airport (SOM) is El Tigre Airport (ELX), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) SSW of SOM.
• San Tomé Airport (SOM) currently has only 1 runway.