Nonstop flight route between McCarthy, Alaska, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between McCarthy Airport (MXY), McCarthy, Alaska, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,329 miles (or 6,967 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 McCarthy 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 McCarthy 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 McCarthy Airport (MXY):

• In addition to being known as "McCarthy Airport", another name for MXY is "15Z".
• The furthest airport from McCarthy Airport (MXY) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,473 miles (16,855 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• McCarthy Airport (MXY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to McCarthy Airport (MXY) is May Creek Airport (MYK), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) SE of MXY.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 48 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 65 enplanements in 2009, and 54 in 2010.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• 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.
• 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.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 2012, the airport ran into a barrage of sustained criticism from the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones.
• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• In the 1970s, the supersonic airliner Concorde made a few flights into the airport on special occasions.