Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Xiangfan, Hubei, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN), Xiangfan, Hubei, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,475 miles (or 8,811 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 Xiangyang Liuji 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 Xiangyang Liuji 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.
• The base has been home to the RAF No.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of 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 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN):

• Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN) is Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport (UAQ), which is nearly antipodal to Xiangyang Liuji Airport (meaning Xiangyang Liuji Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in San Juan Province, Argentina.
• In addition to being known as "Xiangyang Liuji Airport", other names for XFN include "襄阳刘集机场" and "Xiāngyáng Liújí Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Xiangyang Liuji Airport (XFN) is Nanyang Jiangying Airport (NNY), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNE of XFN.