Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM), Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,503 miles (or 5,637 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 Sault Ste. Marie 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 Sault Ste. Marie 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.
• 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.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• RAF St Athan has been used to house a number of army units throughout its life and, in 2003, the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards moved from Aldershot to St Athan - the first time they have been based in Wales since they were formed in 1915.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM):

• In 2010, the airport ranked 34th among Canadian airports for total number of aircraft movements, with 51,279 movements.
• Because of Sault Ste. Marie Airport's relatively low elevation of 632 feet, planes can take off or land at Sault Ste. Marie Airport 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.
• Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,093 miles (17,853 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM) is Chippewa County International Airport (CIU), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) S of YAM.
• The airport hosts the flight-training campus for Sault College as well as the Soo Aviation flying school, resulting in frequent training flights in the vicinity.