Nonstop flight route between Melfa, Virginia, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Accomack County Airport (MFV), Melfa, Virginia, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,538 miles (or 5,694 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 Accomack County 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 Accomack County 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 Accomack County Airport (MFV):

• The airport was built by the United States Army Air Forces about 1942, and was known as Melfa Flight Strip.
• Because of Accomack County Airport's relatively low elevation of 47 feet, planes can take off or land at Accomack County 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.
• Accomack County Airport (MFV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Accomack County Airport (MFV) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,777 miles (18,953 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Accomack County Airport covers an area of 100 acres which contains one runway designated 3/21 with a 5,000 x 100 ft asphalt surface.
• The closest airport to Accomack County Airport (MFV) is Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NE of MFV.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• 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.
• It was announced on 13 April 2011 that Bmibaby were to close their base at the airport, along with their base at Manchester Airport in the following October in order to redeploy aircraft at their other bases, including the creation of a new operation at Belfast City Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• 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.
• On 16 May 2012, it was announced that airport Managing Director, Patrick Duffy, had left his position amid mounting pressure from the Welsh Government on the airport owners Abertis to improve the state of the airport and improve the services it offers, or sell the facility to an investor in a proposed public-private partnership.
• Passenger numbers increased from 2012 to 2013 which shows that Cardiff is making a slow recovery to try to reach passenger levels achieved over 10 years ago.
• 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.
• Also in 1952 Aer Lingus started a service to Dublin.
• 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 (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Rees-Williams thought diverting the river at Pengam would be a problem, and feared that the tall chimney stacks of the nearby East Moors Steelworks could pose a safety hazard to aircraft.