Nonstop flight route between Minami Daito, Okinawa, Japan and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from MMD to DGX:
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- About this route
- MMD Airport Information
- DGX Airport Information
- Facts about MMD
- Facts about DGX
- Map of Nearest Airports to MMD
- List of Nearest Airports to MMD
- Map of Furthest Airports from MMD
- List of Furthest Airports from MMD
- Map of Nearest Airports to DGX
- List of Nearest Airports to DGX
- Map of Furthest Airports from DGX
- List of Furthest Airports from DGX
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Minami-Daito Airport (MMD), Minami Daito, Okinawa, Japan and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,433 miles (or 10,353 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 Minami-Daito 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 Minami-Daito 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MMD / ROMD |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Minami Daito, Okinawa, Japan |
GPS Coordinates: | 25°50'48"N by 131°15'48"E |
Operator/Owner: | Okinawa Prefecture |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 159 feet (48 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from MMD |
More Information: | MMD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | DGX / EGDX |
Airport Name: | MoD St Athan |
Location: | St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°24'16"N by 3°26'8"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 163 feet (50 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from DGX |
More Information: | DGX Maps & Info |
Facts about Minami-Daito Airport (MMD):
- The airport was relocated to its present location and upgraded to accommodate larger flights in July 1997 with the present 1500 meter runway.
- In addition to being known as "Minami-Daito Airport", other names for MMD include "南大東空港" and "Minamidaitō Kūkō".
- Because of Minami-Daito Airport's relatively low elevation of 159 feet, planes can take off or land at Minami-Daito 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.
- Only a round flight from Naha, to Minami-Daito and Kitadaitō, back to Naha is operated everyday.
- The original Minamidaito Airport began as an air base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1934.
- The closest airport to Minami-Daito Airport (MMD) is Kitadaito Airport (KTD), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NNE of MMD.
- Minami-Daito Airport (MMD) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Minami-Daito Airport (MMD) is Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport (JOI), which is nearly antipodal to Minami-Daito Airport (meaning Minami-Daito Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Joinville-Lauro Carneiro de Loyola Airport), and is located 12,411 miles (19,973 kilometers) away in Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):
- 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.
- During the war a dummy airfield was built using wood and cardboard a few miles west of the original airfield and successful efforts were made to hide the proper field.
- The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
- RAF St Athan was also home for the Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Training School.
- After the war, airmen of the Airframe and Engine trades continued to train at St Athan, but in 1955 this training dispersed to RAF Kirkham and RAF Weeton.
- Just before 1100 GMT on 11 February 2009, two Grob Tutor aircraft flying out of St Athan were involved in a mid-air collision in which two Air Training Corps cadets and their instructors, both RAF pilots, died.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.