Nonstop flight route between Palmar Sur, Costa Rica and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palmar Sur Airport (PMZ), Palmar Sur, Costa Rica and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,307 miles (or 8,540 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 Palmar Sur 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 Palmar Sur 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 Palmar Sur Airport (PMZ):

• Palmar Sur Airport (PMZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Palmar Sur Airport's relatively low elevation of 49 feet, planes can take off or land at Palmar Sur 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.
• The furthest airport from Palmar Sur Airport (PMZ) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Palmar Sur Airport (meaning Palmar Sur Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,212 miles (19,654 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• The closest airport to Palmar Sur Airport (PMZ) is Buenos Aires Airporrt (BAI), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) NNE of PMZ.

Facts about MoD St Athan (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.
• 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.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.