Nonstop flight route between Riohacha, Colombia and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Almirante Padilla Airport (RCH), Riohacha, Colombia and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,717 miles (or 7,591 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 Almirante Padilla 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 Almirante Padilla 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 Almirante Padilla Airport (RCH):

• Almirante Padilla Airport (RCH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Almirante Padilla Airport's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Almirante Padilla 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 Almirante Padilla Airport (RCH) is Christmas Island Airport (XCH), which is nearly antipodal to Almirante Padilla Airport (meaning Almirante Padilla Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Christmas Island Airport), and is located 12,317 miles (19,822 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Almirante Padilla Airport", another name for RCH is "Aeropuerto Almirante Padilla".
• The closest airport to Almirante Padilla Airport (RCH) is La Mina Airport Jorge Isaacs Airport (MCJ), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) SE of RCH.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• 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 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 MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• The station officially opened as RAF St Athan on 1 September 1938 and the first unit to take up residence was No 4 School of Technical Training.
• RAF St Athan was also home for the Royal Air Force Administrative Apprentice Training School.