Nonstop flight route between Marana, Arizona, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pinal Airpark (MZJ), Marana, Arizona, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,183 miles (or 8,342 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 Pinal Airpark 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 Pinal Airpark and MoD St Athan. 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 Pinal Airpark (MZJ):

• Pinal Airpark (MZJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Pinal Airpark", another name for MZJ is "Marana Army Airfield".
• The furthest airport from Pinal Airpark (MZJ) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,496 miles (18,502 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Pinal Airpark (MZJ) is Marana Regional Airport (AVW), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) SE of MZJ.
• Marana conducted basic flight training & the training of transport pilots in instrument flying & navigation, being the home of the 3024th.
• Pinal Airpark covers an area of 2,080 acres at an elevation of 1,893 feet above mean sea level.
• The majority of the aircraft at Pinal Airpark formerly belonged to Northwest Airlines, though many other airlines are represented as well.
• One of the more notable aircraft assigned to Marana during its CIA years was a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, AAF Serial 44-85531.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• In 2009 building work was due to commence on a new defence training academy with its heart at St Athan.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• 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.
• RAF St Athan was also home for the Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Training School.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• St Athan also became the major RAF maintenance base for Vulcan, Victor, Buccaner, Phantom, Harrier, Tornado, Jaguar, Hawk and VC10 aircraft, originally under direct RAF control, but latterly under the auspices of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency.
• 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.