Nonstop flight route between Houston, Texas, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), Houston, Texas, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,726 miles (or 7,605 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 William P. Hobby 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 William P. Hobby 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 William P. Hobby Airport (HOU):

• In addition to being known as "William P. Hobby Airport", another name for HOU is "Houston Hobby".
• William P. Hobby Airport handled 9,054,001 passengers last year.
• Because of William P. Hobby Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at William P. Hobby 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 William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) is Ellington Field Joint Reserve BaseEllington Air Force BaseEllington Field (EFD), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) ESE of HOU.
• On April 9, 2012, Houston Director of Aviation Mario Diaz announced support of international flights from Hobby after multiple studies of the economic impact on the entire city of Houston.
• In May 2011 Southwest Airlines expressed interest in international flights from Hobby.
• The city of Houston opened and dedicated a new air terminal and hangar in 1940.
• The furthest airport from William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,002 miles (17,706 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Southwest Airlines operated more than 80 percent of the total enplanements at Hobby in 2005 and an average of 10 flights per day per gate.
• William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) has 4 runways.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• On 1 April 1965 the Ministry of Aviation handed over the airport to Glamorgan County Council and it was renamed Glamorgan Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 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.
• In 2006 the Irish low cost carrier Ryanair withdrew from the airport ending 5 years of service on the Cardiff to Dublin route daily.
• 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.
• 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 (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Cardiff Airport has also had several problems with wild fly-grazing horses around the airfield and the Redwings Sanctuary in Norfolk were needed to assist in the rescue of 23 unclaimed horses that had been left on the site.