Nonstop flight route between Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ), Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,606 miles (or 17,069 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 Port Macquarie 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 Port Macquarie 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 Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ):

• The closest airport to Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ) is Kempsey Airport (KPS), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) NNW of PQQ.
• Connections to Brisbane by Brindabella Airlines ceased 31 December 2010, citing poor loads on the route.
• Because of Port Macquarie Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Macquarie 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 Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Port Macquarie Airport (meaning Port Macquarie Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,038 miles (19,373 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ) has 2 runways.
• Port Macquarie Airport handled 218,897 passengers last year.
• On 28 July 2011, Virgin Australia announced its intention to commence a daily Brisbane to Port Macquarie service from October 2011.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of 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.
• 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 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.
• The two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 15, and Nikitta Walters, 14.
• 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.
• 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.