Nonstop flight route between Oviedo, Asturias, Spain and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Asturias Airport (OVD), Oviedo, Asturias, Spain and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 555 miles (or 893 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 Asturias 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 Asturias Airport (OVD):

• In addition to being known as "Asturias Airport", another name for OVD is "Aeropuerto de Asturias".
• The closest airport to Asturias Airport (OVD) is León Airport (LEN), which is located 70 miles (113 kilometers) SSE of OVD.
• Asturias Airport (OVD) currently has only 1 runway.
• Asturias airport is located in the parish of Santiago del Monte, municipality of Castrillón, 15 km from Avilés, 40 km from Gijón and 47 km from the regional capital, Oviedo.
• The furthest airport from Asturias Airport (OVD) is Christchurch International Airport (CHC), which is nearly antipodal to Asturias Airport (meaning Asturias Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Christchurch International Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,899 kilometers) away in Christchurch, New Zealand.
• Because of Asturias Airport's relatively low elevation of 226 feet, planes can take off or land at Asturias 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.
• In 2003, a series of improvements were made to the airport, that would enable it to handle a higher volume of passengers and aircraft traffic.
• Asturias Airport, is the only international airport of Asturias, Spain, in Castrillón.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• The new academy was claimed to create up to 5000 jobs at St Athan with a £14 billion investment over 25 years with an estimated £57.4 million spent into the local economy.