Nonstop flight route between Nantes, France and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE), Nantes, France and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 305 miles (or 491 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 relatively short distance between Nantes Atlantique Airport and MoD St Athan, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE):

• In addition to being known as "Nantes Atlantique Airport", another name for NTE is "Aéroport Nantes Atlantique".
• Nantes airport owes its origins to a military airfield, conceived in 1928 on part of the current site.
• The furthest airport from Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Nantes Atlantique Airport (meaning Nantes Atlantique Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,097 miles (19,468 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Nantes Atlantique Airport handled 393,084 passengers last year.
• Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Nantes Atlantique Airport is located just outside the Nantes 'périphérique', the city's peripheral ring motorway, to which it is linked by a short access road.
• Nantes Atlantique is currently the largest airport in the west of France.
• The closest airport to Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE) is Cholet Le Pontreau Airport (CET), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) E of NTE.
• Because of Nantes Atlantique Airport's relatively low elevation of 90 feet, planes can take off or land at Nantes Atlantique 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.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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 has been used to house a number of army units throughout its life and, in 2003, the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards moved from Aldershot to St Athan - the first time they have been based in Wales since they were formed in 1915.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.