Nonstop flight route between Fort Rucker, Dale County, Alabama, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY), Fort Rucker, Dale County, Alabama, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,246 miles (or 6,834 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 Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) 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 Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) 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 Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY):

• In addition to being known as "Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP)", other names for HEY include "Hanchey Army Heliport" and "Fort Rucker".
• Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP)'s relatively low elevation of 317 feet, planes can take off or land at Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) 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 Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY) is Lowe Army Heliport (AHP) (LOR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) W of HEY.
• The furthest airport from Hanchey Army Heliport (AHP) (HEY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,218 miles (18,054 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• On 16 May 2012, it was announced that airport Managing Director, Patrick Duffy, had left his position amid mounting pressure from the Welsh Government on the airport owners Abertis to improve the state of the airport and improve the services it offers, or sell the facility to an investor in a proposed public-private partnership.
• On 1 April 1965 the Ministry of Aviation handed over the airport to Glamorgan County Council and it was renamed Glamorgan Airport.
• In 2006 the Irish low cost carrier Ryanair withdrew from the airport ending 5 years of service on the Cardiff to Dublin route daily.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• On 29 May 2012 it was announced that Jones would personally chair a "Task Force" on Cardiff Airport with the aim of "maximising its economic impact, commercially and for Wales".
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• The airport was used by 2.1 million passengers in 2008, falling to around 1.1 million passengers in 2013, according to the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, a reduction of nearly 50% since 2008, making it the 21st busiest airport in the UK in terms of passenger numbers.