Nonstop flight route between Mason City, Iowa, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW), Mason City, Iowa, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,985 miles (or 6,414 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 Mason City Municipal 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 Mason City Municipal 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 Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW):

• Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) has 2 runways.
• As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 11,678 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 11,076 in 2009, and 13,852 in 2010.
• In the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, following a concert at the Surf Ballroom in nearby Clear Lake, musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P.
• The closest airport to Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) is Forest City Municipal Airport (FXY), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) WNW of MCW.
• The furthest airport from Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,784 miles (17,354 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Mason City lost all commercial service following the pullout of Great Lakes Airlines on January 31, 2014.
• Mason City Municipal Airport covers an area of 1,103 acres at an elevation of 1,214 feet above mean sea level.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• 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.
• The airport was used by 2.1 million passengers in 2008, falling to around 1.1 million passengers in 2013, according to the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, a reduction of nearly 50% since 2008, making it the 21st busiest airport in the UK in terms of passenger numbers.
• However, it emerged that the Airport had applied for £5 million of payments from the Welsh Assembly Government to deal with unspecified development at the terminal.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• Also in 1952 Aer Lingus started a service to Dublin.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In April 1995, due to planned Local Government re-organisation in Wales, the Airport Company was privatised, with shares being sold to property and development firm, TBI plc, which has now been converted back to a private company called TBI Ltd and is concessionary to Orlando Sanford International Airport.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 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.
• 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.