Nonstop flight route between Nanchong, Sichuan, China and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nanchong Gaoping Airport (NAO), Nanchong, Sichuan, China and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,339 miles (or 8,592 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 Nanchong Gaoping 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 Nanchong Gaoping 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Nanchong Gaoping Airport (NAO):

• Nanchong Gaoping Airport (NAO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Nanchong Gaoping Airport (NAO) is Dazhou Heshi Airport (DAX), which is located 79 miles (127 kilometers) ENE of NAO.
• In addition to being known as "Nanchong Gaoping Airport", other names for NAO include "南充高坪机场" and "Nanchong Gaoping Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Nanchong Gaoping Airport (NAO) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is nearly antipodal to Nanchong Gaoping Airport (meaning Nanchong Gaoping Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from La Florida Airport), and is located 12,268 miles (19,744 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• The MOD later decided that DARA's 'Fast Jets' and 'Engines' businesses would close by April 2007, although the 'Large Aircraft' business would continue and, on 14 April 2005, the Project Red Dragon super-hangar opened and DARA moved its VC10 operations from its existing 'Twin Peaks' hangar into the new facility.
• 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.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.