Nonstop flight route between Gisenyi, Rwanda and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gisenyi Airport (GYI), Gisenyi, Rwanda and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,137 miles (or 6,658 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 Gisenyi 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 Gisenyi 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 Gisenyi Airport (GYI):

• Gisenyi Airport is a medium-sized airport that serves the town of Gisenyi and the neighboring city of Goma, across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Because of Gisenyi Airport's high elevation of 5,082 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GYI. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GYI a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Gisenyi Airport (GYI) is Goma Airport (GOM), which is located only 2 miles (2 kilometers) WNW of GYI.
• The furthest airport from Gisenyi Airport (GYI) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,980 miles (19,280 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• Gisenyi Airport, is located in Rwanda's Western Province, in Rubavu District, in the town of Gisenyi, at the International border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Gisenyi Airport (GYI) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.
• 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.
• 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.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• 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 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.