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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), Abilene, Texas, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,764 miles (or 7,666 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 Dyess 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 Dyess 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 Dyess Air Force Base (DYS):

• Units stationed at Dyess Air Force Base while the 5/517th was operational included SAC's 819th Strategic Aerospace Division, the 96th BW, and the 578th Strategic Missile Squadron.
• Dyess AFB is a 6,409-acre base with over 13,000 military and civilian people.
• In 1942, the United States Army Air Forces built Tye Army Air Field, as it was popularly known, on the site of what is now known as Dyess AFB.
• The furthest airport from Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,080 miles (17,831 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The base is named after Lt Col William Edwin Dyess, a native of Albany, Texas, who was captured by the Japanese on Bataan in April 1942.
• The closest airport to Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DYS.
• On 25 March 1944, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt training for flight cadets was taken over by the 261st Army Air Force Base Unit.
• In addition to being known as "Dyess Air Force Base", another name for DYS is "Dyess AFB".

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 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.
• In 2007 a new airline was mooted as a new home carrier at the airport.
• In April 1995, due to planned Local Government re-organisation in Wales, the Airport Company was privatised, with shares being sold to property and development firm, TBI plc, which has now been converted back to a private company called TBI Ltd and is concessionary to Orlando Sanford International Airport.
• 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.
• Also in 1952 Aer Lingus started a service to Dublin.
• 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 closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• In 2012, the airport ran into a barrage of sustained criticism from the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones.