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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM), Amiens, France and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 276 miles (or 444 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 Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome 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 Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM):

• In addition to being known as "Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome", other names for QAM include "Aérodrome d'Amiens - Glisy" and "(former Advanced Landing Ground B-48)".
• The furthest airport from Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (meaning Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,014 miles (19,335 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airport is used for general aviation, with no commercial airline service.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 208 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM) is Aerodrome Abbeville (XAB), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) NW of QAM.
• Because of Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 208 feet, planes can take off or land at Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome 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.
• Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM) has 2 runways.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• 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.
• 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.
• After the war, airmen of the Airframe and Engine trades continued to train at St Athan, but in 1955 this training dispersed to RAF Kirkham and RAF Weeton.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.