Nonstop flight route between Meridian, Mississippi, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Key Field Air National Guard Base (MEI), Meridian, Mississippi, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,325 miles (or 6,961 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 Key Field Air National Guard Base 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 Key Field Air National Guard Base 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 Key Field Air National Guard Base (MEI):

• In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission realigned Key Field Air National Guard Base.
• Key Field is home to the Mississippi Air National Guard 186th Air Refueling Wing.
• The furthest airport from Key Field Air National Guard Base (MEI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,055 miles (17,792 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Key Field Air National Guard Base (MEI) is Hesler-Noble Field (LUL), which is located 52 miles (83 kilometers) SSW of MEI.
• In addition to being known as "Key Field Air National Guard Base", another name for MEI is "Key Field ANGB".
• Key Field Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Mississippi Air National Guard 186th Air Refueling Wing.

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.
• On 15 May 2014 it was announced that Ryanair would return to the airport after an absence of 8 years by operating a service to Tenerife starting on 30 October the same year.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 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 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.
• On 2 March 2009 the airport management revealed a name change for the airport along with initial development plans to improve the image of the facility.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Cardiff Airport was owned by a private company Cardiff International Airport Limited which, in turn was wholly owned by TBI Ltd a former public company which is 90% owned by the Spanish conglomerate Abertis and 10% by Aena International - the world's largest airport operator.
• 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.
• 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.