Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Shiraz, Iran:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Shiraz International Airport (SYZ), Shiraz, Iran would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,211 miles (or 5,168 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 Shiraz International 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 Shiraz International 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):

• After the war, airmen of the Airframe and Engine trades continued to train at St Athan, but in 1955 this training dispersed to RAF Kirkham and RAF Weeton.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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 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 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 March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Shiraz International Airport (SYZ):

• In addition to being known as "Shiraz International Airport", another name for SYZ is "Shahid Dastghaib International Airport Tadayon Air Base".
• The closest airport to Shiraz International Airport (SYZ) is Bushehr Airport (BUZ), which is located 114 miles (183 kilometers) WSW of SYZ.
• Because of Shiraz International Airport's high elevation of 4,920 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SYZ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SYZ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Shiraz International Airport (SYZ) has 2 runways.
• In addition to domestic flights to most major Iranian cities, several daily flights to Persian Gulf States including UAE and Bahrain are performed.
• The furthest airport from Shiraz International Airport (SYZ) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,794 miles (18,981 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.