Nonstop flight route between Hickory, North Carolina, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hickory Regional Airport (HKY), Hickory, North Carolina, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,855 miles (or 6,204 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 Hickory Regional 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 Hickory Regional 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 Hickory Regional Airport (HKY):

• The Hickory Municipal Airport was first opened to aircraft traffic on May 17, 1940.
• Riverhawk Aviation, which was the airport's only FBO, voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Foothills Regional Airport (MRN), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) WNW of HKY.
• Atlantis Airlines was one small airline of this type, offering up to 6 daily direct flights to Charlotte and Atlanta.
• The furthest airport from Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,494 miles (18,499 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• While not currently served by any commercial airline, the Hickory Regional Airport has had such service for much of its history.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• The training to be carried out at St Athan was to be specialist phase 2 and phase 3 engineering courses of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
• 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.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• The base has been home to the RAF No.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.