Nonstop flight route between King City, California, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC), King City, California, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,311 miles (or 8,547 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 Mesa Del Rey 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 Mesa Del Rey 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 Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC):

• In addition to being known as "Mesa Del Rey Airport", other names for KIC include "(former King City Airport)" and "(former King City Naval Aux. Air Station)".
• For the 12-month period ending February 25, 2009, the airport had 7,862 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 21 per day.
• The furthest airport from Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,390 miles (18,330 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC) is Roberts Army Heliport (SYL), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) SE of KIC.
• Because of Mesa Del Rey Airport's relatively low elevation of 374 feet, planes can take off or land at Mesa Del Rey 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.
• Opened in April 1940 as Palo Alto Airport or King City Airport.
• Mesa Del Rey Airport (KIC) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• 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.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• It was announced on 28 October 2011, that Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling are to open a new route to Barcelona commencing 27 March 2012 operating the route three times per week.
• In 2007 a new airline was mooted as a new home carrier at the airport.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Following a survey conducted by the airport operator in 2008 as part of a campaign to attract additional business routes to the airport, popular destinations such as Aberdeen, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Brussels and Scandinavian cities were identified as lacking a current link.
• Also in 1952 Aer Lingus started a service to Dublin.
• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• 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.