Nonstop flight route between Del Rio, Texas, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF), Del Rio, Texas, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,959 miles (or 7,981 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 Laughlin Air Force Base and Cardiff 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 Laughlin Air Force Base and Cardiff 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 Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF):

• The furthest airport from Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,241 miles (18,091 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• There were 651 households out of which 56.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 82.8% were married couples living together, 3.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.3% were non-families.
• The closest airport to Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF) is Del Rio International Airport (DRT), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) W of DLF.
• Laughlin AFB is served by the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District.
• Another 4080th pilot, Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr., perished when his U-2 was hit by shrapnel from a Soviet-made SA-2 on October 22, 1962 while overflying Cuba from McCoy AFB.
• The residential area of the base is a census-designated place, with a population of 1,569 at the 2010 census.
• The Air Force transferred jurisdiction of the base to the Strategic Air Command on April 1, 1957 and the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing moved there from Turner Air Force Base, Georgia.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• On 2 March 2009 the airport management revealed a name change for the airport along with initial development plans to improve the image of the facility.
• Passenger numbers increased from 2012 to 2013 which shows that Cardiff is making a slow recovery to try to reach passenger levels achieved over 10 years ago.
• However, it emerged that the Airport had applied for £5 million of payments from the Welsh Assembly Government to deal with unspecified development at the terminal.
• Rees-Williams thought diverting the river at Pengam would be a problem, and feared that the tall chimney stacks of the nearby East Moors Steelworks could pose a safety hazard to aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Cardiff Airport (CWL) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,958 miles (19,244 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The history of the airport extends back to the early 1940s, when the Air Ministry requisitioned land in the rural Vale of Glamorgan to set up a wartime satellite aerodrome and training base, named RAF Rhoose, for Royal Air Force Spitfire pilots.
• The airport was the main base for three local airlines.
• Cardiff Airport was owned by a private company Cardiff International Airport Limited which, in turn was wholly owned by TBI Ltd a former public company which is 90% owned by the Spanish conglomerate Abertis and 10% by Aena International - the world's largest airport operator.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Cardiff Airport's relatively low elevation of 220 feet, planes can take off or land at Cardiff 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.
• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.