Nonstop flight route between Jacksonville, Florida, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between NAS Jacksonville (NIP), Jacksonville, Florida, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,130 miles (or 6,647 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 NAS Jacksonville 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 NAS Jacksonville 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 NAS Jacksonville (NIP):

• In 1973, with the assignment of Helicopter Antisubmarine Wing One, the station’s primary mission became antisubmarine warfare.
• NAS Jacksonville (NIP) has 2 runways.
• With the BRAC-directed closure of NAS Brunswick, Maine by mid-2011, Patrol Squadron EIGHT, Patrol Squadron TEN, Patrol Squadron TWENTY-SIX, Special Projects Patrol Squadron ONE and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron SIXTY-TWO began relocating to NAS Jacksonville in 2007 with their P-3C and C-130T aircraft, with all of these squadrons in place at NAS Jacksonville by late 2010.
• Naval Air Station Jacksonville or NAS Jacksonville is a military airport located four miles south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States.
• Because of NAS Jacksonville's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at NAS Jacksonville 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 closest airport to NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (CRG), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NE of NIP.
• In addition to being known as "NAS Jacksonville", another name for NIP is "Towers Field".
• The first detail of Marines arrived from Parris Island, South Carolina on June 4, 1940 to secure the 3,250-acre area, setting up a barracks in a former residence on Allegheny Road.
• In March 1959, Marine Attack Squadron ONE FOUR TWO of the Marine Corps Reserve relocated to NAS Jacksonville from the closing MCAS Miami, along with the associated Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment.
• The furthest airport from NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,460 miles (18,444 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• RAF St Athan was also home for the Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Training School.
• 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.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• The only squadrons to operate out of St Athan on a regular basis are the University of Wales Air Squadron, flying Grob Tutors and No 634 Volunteer Gliding Squadron using Vigilant T.1s.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• 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.