Nonstop flight route between Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan (KUA), Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,722 miles (or 10,818 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 Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan 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 Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan 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 Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan (KUA):

• Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan (KUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan handled 280,074 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan (KUA) is Kerteh Airport (KTE), which is located 59 miles (95 kilometers) NNE of KUA.
• Because of Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan's relatively low elevation of 58 feet, planes can take off or land at Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan 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 addition to being known as "Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan", another name for KUA is "Lapangan Terbang Sultan Ahmad Shah / TUDM Kuantan".
• The furthest airport from Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan (KUA) is Col. Edmundo Carvajal Airport (XMS), which is nearly antipodal to Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan (meaning Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport / RMAF Kuantan is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Col. Edmundo Carvajal Airport), and is located 12,300 miles (19,795 kilometers) away in Macas, Ecuador.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 2009 building work was due to commence on a new defence training academy with its heart at St Athan.
• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• In March 2004, however, DARA announced the loss of 550 jobs at St Athan as part of streamlining to make DARA more efficient and better able to compete with the private sector for lucrative aircraft repair contracts, but also because they lost out to a direct RAF bid for a contract to upgrade the air force's fleet of ageing Harrier jump jet aircraft.
• 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 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.