Nonstop flight route between Lukla, Nepal and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA), Lukla, Nepal and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,754 miles (or 7,651 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 Tenzing-Hillary 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 Tenzing-Hillary 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 Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA):

• The airport is popular because Lukla is the place where most people start the climb to Mount Everest Base Camp.
• Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Tenzing-Hillary Airport", another name for LUA is "तेन्जिङ हिलारी विमानस्थल".
• The closest airport to Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA) is Phaplu Airport (PPL), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) SW of LUA.
• In January 2008 the airport was renamed in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest and also to mark their efforts in the construction of this airport.
• Because of Tenzing-Hillary Airport's high elevation of 9,383 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LUA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LUA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The apron has four stands and there is one helipad located 140 m from the control tower.
• Aircraft can only use runway 06 for landings and runway 24 for takeoffs.There is no prospect of a successful go-around on short final due to the terrain.
• The furthest airport from Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,446 miles (18,421 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.

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.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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 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 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 station officially opened as RAF St Athan on 1 September 1938 and the first unit to take up residence was No 4 School of Technical Training.