Nonstop flight route between Dammam, Saudi Arabia and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between King Fahd International Airport (DMM), Dammam, Saudi Arabia and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,244 miles (or 5,221 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 King Fahd International Airport and MoD St Athan, 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 King Fahd International Airport and MoD St Athan. 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 King Fahd International Airport (DMM):

• Several sources, such as the Guinness World Record mention this airport as the largest in the world, with 780 square kilometers.
• King Fahd International Airport handled 7,000,000 passengers last year.
• The terminal's design allows for transforming the operation system to a fully automatic system equipped with multi-level racks and a container stacking system.
• In addition to being known as "King Fahd International Airport", other names for DMM include "Dammam Airport" and "مطار الملك فهد الدولي".
• Because of King Fahd International Airport's relatively low elevation of 72 feet, planes can take off or land at King Fahd International 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 Royal Terminal is reserved for the Saudi Royal Family, government personnel, and official guests.
• King Fahd International Airport (DMM) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from King Fahd International Airport (DMM) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to King Fahd International Airport (meaning King Fahd International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,061 miles (19,411 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• There are ten main Operations Services areas providing facilities for the operation of the airport.
• The closest airport to King Fahd International Airport (DMM) is King Abdulaziz Air Base (DHA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) ESE of DMM.
• Dammam airport used to allow smoking throughout the airport, with most seats having ash trays built into the arm rest.

Facts about MoD St Athan (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.
• 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.
• 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 MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• After the war, airmen of the Airframe and Engine trades continued to train at St Athan, but in 1955 this training dispersed to RAF Kirkham and RAF Weeton.
• The new academy was claimed to create up to 5000 jobs at St Athan with a £14 billion investment over 25 years with an estimated £57.4 million spent into the local economy.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.