Nonstop flight route between Qiemo, Xinjiang, China and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Qiemo Airport (IQM), Qiemo, Xinjiang, China and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,184 miles (or 6,733 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 Qiemo 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 Qiemo 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 Qiemo Airport (IQM):

• Qiemo Airport (IQM) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Qiemo Airport", other names for IQM include "且末机场" and "Qiěmò Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Qiemo Airport (IQM) is Pupelde Airfield (ZUD), which is located 11,316 miles (18,211 kilometers) away in Ancud, Los Lagos Region, Chile.
• Because of Qiemo Airport's high elevation of 4,108 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at IQM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make IQM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Qiemo Airport (IQM) is Korla Airport (KRL), which is located 242 miles (389 kilometers) N of IQM.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The base has been home to the RAF No.
• The MOD later decided that DARA's 'Fast Jets' and 'Engines' businesses would close by April 2007, although the 'Large Aircraft' business would continue and, on 14 April 2005, the Project Red Dragon super-hangar opened and DARA moved its VC10 operations from its existing 'Twin Peaks' hangar into the new facility.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• 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.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• 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.