Nonstop flight route between Huntsville / Decatur, Alabama, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Huntsville International Airport (HSV), Huntsville / Decatur, Alabama, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,128 miles (or 6,644 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 Huntsville International 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 Huntsville International 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 Huntsville International Airport (HSV):

• The closest airport to Huntsville International Airport (HSV) is Redstone Army Airfield (AAF) (HUA), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) ENE of HSV.
• The furthest airport from Huntsville International Airport (HSV) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,189 miles (18,008 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Huntsville International Airport (HSV) has 2 runways.
• From 1969 to 1980 Huntsville had nonstop or direct jet flights to Los Angeles as well as to Florida and Texas during the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Huntsville International Airport", another name for HSV is "Carl T. Jones Field".
• The airport's "Fly Huntsville" jingle encourages passengers to depart from Huntsville instead of driving to Birmingham or Nashville.
• By the end of 1985 Huntsville had no nonstop flights beyond DFW, MEM, Knoxville and ATL.
• Because of Huntsville International Airport's relatively low elevation of 629 feet, planes can take off or land at Huntsville International 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.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• 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.
• 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.
• St Athan also became the major RAF maintenance base for Vulcan, Victor, Buccaner, Phantom, Harrier, Tornado, Jaguar, Hawk and VC10 aircraft, originally under direct RAF control, but latterly under the auspices of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency.
• In 2009 building work was due to commence on a new defence training academy with its heart at St Athan.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• During the war a dummy airfield was built using wood and cardboard a few miles west of the original airfield and successful efforts were made to hide the proper field.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.