Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and CFB Edmonton (YED), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,132 miles (or 6,650 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 CFB Edmonton, 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 CFB Edmonton. 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):

• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 CFB Edmonton (YED):

• In 1968, when Canada's armed forces were amalgamated, RCAF Station Namao was redesignated Canadian Forces Base Edmonton and was under command of the new Air Transport Command and later Air Command.
• The furthest airport from CFB Edmonton (YED) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,216 miles (16,441 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In addition to being known as "CFB Edmonton", other names for YED include "Edmonton/Namao Heliport Edmonton Garrison" and "Steele Barracks".
• The closest airport to CFB Edmonton (YED) is Edmonton International Airport (YEG), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) S of YED.
• With the formation of air force wings in the 1990s the base became 18 Wing.
• CFB Edmonton is currently the headquarters of 3rd Canadian Division, the highest military authority in western Canada, and a number of brigade groups, including 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, the only Regular Force brigade group in the region.
• On June 7, 2013, the base hosted the raising of a rainbow flag to kick off Edmonton Pride, the first time in Canadian history that the flag has flown on a military base.