Nonstop flight route between Lanseria, South Africa and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lanseria International Airport (HLA), Lanseria, South Africa and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,671 miles (or 9,127 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 Lanseria International Airport 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 Lanseria International Airport 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 Lanseria International Airport (HLA):

• Lanseria Airport started out as a grass strip airfield in 1972, the brainchild of two Pretoria pilots – Fanie Haacke and Abe Sher.
• Lanseria International Airport is a privately owned international airport that is situated north of Randburg and Sandton to the north west of Johannesburg, South Africa.
• The airport was officially opened by the Minister of Transport at the time, Hannes Rall, on 16 August 1974.
• National Airways has its head office building on the airport property.
• In addition to being known as "Lanseria International Airport", another name for HLA is "Lanseria".
• Lanseria International Airport (HLA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Lanseria International Airport (HLA) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is nearly antipodal to Lanseria International Airport (meaning Lanseria International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hana Airport), and is located 12,002 miles (19,316 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Lanseria International Airport's high elevation of 4,520 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HLA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HLA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990 he was flown to Johannesburg landing at Lanseria Airport.
• The closest airport to Lanseria International Airport (HLA) is Grand Central Airport (GCJ), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) ESE of HLA.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• Passenger numbers increased from 2012 to 2013 which shows that Cardiff is making a slow recovery to try to reach passenger levels achieved over 10 years ago.
• 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.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The history of the airport extends back to the early 1940s, when the Air Ministry requisitioned land in the rural Vale of Glamorgan to set up a wartime satellite aerodrome and training base, named RAF Rhoose, for Royal Air Force Spitfire pilots.
• It was announced on 13 April 2011 that Bmibaby were to close their base at the airport, along with their base at Manchester Airport in the following October in order to redeploy aircraft at their other bases, including the creation of a new operation at Belfast City 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 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 1 April 1965 the Ministry of Aviation handed over the airport to Glamorgan County Council and it was renamed Glamorgan Airport.