Nonstop flight route between Richmond, Virginia, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Richmond International Airport (RIC), Richmond, Virginia, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,609 miles (or 5,808 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 Richmond International Airport and Cardiff Airport, 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 Richmond International Airport and Cardiff Airport. 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 Richmond International Airport (RIC):

• The current president and CEO of the airport is Jon Mathiasen.
• The airport was dedicated as Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field in 1927 in honor of aviator Richard E.
• Richmond International Airport handled 3,311,747 passengers last year.
• Richmond International Airport (RIC) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Richmond International Airport (RIC) is A.P. Hill Army Airfield (APH), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) N of RIC.
• Because of Richmond International Airport's relatively low elevation of 167 feet, planes can take off or land at Richmond International 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.
• Until October 2007, the 192d Fighter Wing, an Air Combat Command -gained unit of the Virginia Air National Guard, maintained an Air National Guard station, operating F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from the airport.
• In November 2012, RIC served 262,146 passengers.
• The furthest airport from Richmond International Airport (RIC) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,698 miles (18,827 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• In the 1970s, the supersonic airliner Concorde made a few flights into the airport on special occasions.
• On 15 May 2014 it was announced that Ryanair would return to the airport after an absence of 8 years by operating a service to Tenerife starting on 30 October the same year.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• Following a survey conducted by the airport operator in 2008 as part of a campaign to attract additional business routes to the airport, popular destinations such as Aberdeen, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Brussels and Scandinavian cities were identified as lacking a current link.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• Because of Cardiff Airport's relatively low elevation of 220 feet, planes can take off or land at Cardiff 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 closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• The furthest airport from Cardiff Airport (CWL) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,958 miles (19,244 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.