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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Grande Cache Airport (YGC), Grande Cache, Alberta, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,264 miles (or 6,863 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 Grande Cache 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 Grande Cache 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):

• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• 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.
• The MOD later decided that DARA's 'Fast Jets' and 'Engines' businesses would close by April 2007, although the 'Large Aircraft' business would continue and, on 14 April 2005, the Project Red Dragon super-hangar opened and DARA moved its VC10 operations from its existing 'Twin Peaks' hangar into the new facility.
• 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.
• In 2009 building work was due to commence on a new defence training academy with its heart at St Athan.

Facts about Grande Cache Airport (YGC):

• Because of Grande Cache Airport's high elevation of 4,112 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at YGC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make YGC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Grande Cache Airport (YGC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Grande Cache Airport (YGC) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,312 miles (16,596 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In addition to being known as "Grande Cache Airport", another name for YGC is "CEQ5".
• The closest airport to Grande Cache Airport (YGC) is Hinton/Jasper-Hinton Airport (YJP), which is located 62 miles (99 kilometers) SE of YGC.