Nonstop flight route between Hiroshima, Honshū, Japan and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hiroshima Airport (HIJ), Hiroshima, Honshū, Japan and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,942 miles (or 9,563 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 Hiroshima 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 Hiroshima 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 Hiroshima Airport (HIJ):

• The closest airport to Hiroshima Airport (HIJ) is Matsuyama Airport (MYJ), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) SSW of HIJ.
• Hiroshima Airport (HIJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Hiroshima has one terminal with separated departures and arrivals facilities for domestic and international flights and seven lettered gates.
• The airport has no direct expressway connection but is located near the San'yō Expressway.
• The furthest airport from Hiroshima Airport (HIJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Hiroshima Airport (meaning Hiroshima Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,101 miles (19,475 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Hiroshima Airport", other names for HIJ include "広島空港" and "Hiroshima Kūkō".

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• 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 only squadrons to operate out of St Athan on a regular basis are the University of Wales Air Squadron, flying Grob Tutors and No 634 Volunteer Gliding Squadron using Vigilant T.1s.
• Just before 1100 GMT on 11 February 2009, two Grob Tutor aircraft flying out of St Athan were involved in a mid-air collision in which two Air Training Corps cadets and their instructors, both RAF pilots, died.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.