Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Santa Cruz, Bolivia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Viru Viru International Airport (VVI), Santa Cruz, Bolivia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,969 miles (or 9,606 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 Viru Viru 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 Viru Viru 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):

• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• The station officially opened as RAF St Athan on 1 September 1938 and the first unit to take up residence was No 4 School of Technical Training.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.

Facts about Viru Viru International Airport (VVI):

• The closest airport to Viru Viru International Airport (VVI) is El Trompillo Airport (SRZ), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) SSW of VVI.
• Viru Viru International Airport (VVI) currently has only 1 runway.
• Viru Viru is able to handle the largest commercial jets and handles domestic, regional, and international flights from North America and Europe.
• The furthest airport from Viru Viru International Airport (VVI) is San Fernando Airport (SFE), which is nearly antipodal to Viru Viru International Airport (meaning Viru Viru International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from San Fernando Airport), and is located 12,198 miles (19,631 kilometers) away in San Fernando City, La Union, Philippines.
• A new modern airport for Santa Cruz was conceived in 1976, to replace the obsolete El Trompillo Airport.