Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Taos, New Mexico, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Taos Regional Airport (TSM), Taos, New Mexico, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,769 miles (or 7,674 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 Taos Regional 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 Taos Regional 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):

• 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.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Taos Regional Airport (TSM):

• In addition to being known as "Taos Regional Airport", another name for TSM is "SKX".
• The closest airport to Taos Regional Airport (TSM) is Ohkay Owingeh Airport (ESO), which is located 36 miles (59 kilometers) SW of TSM.
• The furthest airport from Taos Regional Airport (TSM) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,106 miles (17,873 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of Taos Regional Airport's high elevation of 7,095 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at TSM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make TSM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Taos Regional Airport (TSM) currently has only 1 runway.