Nonstop flight route between St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom and Alberni Valley Regional Airport (YPB), Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,674 miles (or 7,522 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 Alberni Valley Regional 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 Alberni Valley Regional 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• RAF St Athan was also home for the Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Training School.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• In March 2004, however, DARA announced the loss of 550 jobs at St Athan as part of streamlining to make DARA more efficient and better able to compete with the private sector for lucrative aircraft repair contracts, but also because they lost out to a direct RAF bid for a contract to upgrade the air force's fleet of ageing Harrier jump jet aircraft.
• During the war a dummy airfield was built using wood and cardboard a few miles west of the original airfield and successful efforts were made to hide the proper field.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Alberni Valley Regional Airport (YPB):

• The closest airport to Alberni Valley Regional Airport (YPB) is Qualicum Beach Airport (XQU), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) E of YPB.
• Alberni Valley Regional Airport (YPB) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Alberni Valley Regional Airport", another name for YPB is "CBS8".
• The furthest airport from Alberni Valley Regional Airport (YPB) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,703 miles (17,225 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Because of Alberni Valley Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 250 feet, planes can take off or land at Alberni Valley Regional 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.