Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Tanacross, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Tanacross Airport (TSG), Tanacross, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,215 miles (or 6,783 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 Tanacross 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 Tanacross 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.

Facts about Tanacross Airport (TSG):

• The closest airport to Tanacross Airport (TSG) is Tok Airport (TKJ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) ESE of TSG.
• This general aviation airport is located 166 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska.
• Tanacross Airport is a public use airport located one nautical mile south of the central business district of Tanacross, in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area of the U.S.
• Tanacross Airport (TSG) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Tanacross Airport", another name for TSG is "Tanacross Air Base".
• The furthest airport from Tanacross Airport (TSG) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,351 miles (16,659 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 80 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 32 enplanements in 2009, and 97 in 2010.