Nonstop flight route between Riverside, California, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between March Air Reserve Base (RIV), Riverside, California, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,317 miles (or 8,557 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 March Air Reserve Base 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 March Air Reserve Base 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 March Air Reserve Base (RIV):

• The signing of the armistice in November 1918 did not halt training at March Field.
• In December 1948, Twelfth Air Force and March AFB were assigned from Tactical Air Command to Continental Air Command, established on 1 December 1948.
• The furthest airport from March Air Reserve Base (RIV) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,461 miles (18,445 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• March is one of the oldest airfields operated by the United States military, being established as Alessandro Flying Training Field in February 1918.
• The Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 quickly brought March Field back into the business of training aircrews.
• As March Field began to take on the appearance of a permanent military installation, the base's basic mission changed.
• The closest airport to March Air Reserve Base (RIV) is Flabob Airport (RIR), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NW of RIV.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• 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 man who decided Rhoose could be the site of a new Airport was David Rees-Williams a Bridgend-born solicitor who had served as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Artillery during the WW2 and who.
• 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.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 1986 saw a further extension of 750 ft to the runway, costing in the region of £1 million, thus attracting more business to the airport in the form of new-generation jet aircraft.
• In April 1995, due to planned Local Government re-organisation in Wales, the Airport Company was privatised, with shares being sold to property and development firm, TBI plc, which has now been converted back to a private company called TBI Ltd and is concessionary to Orlando Sanford International Airport.
• Passenger numbers increased from 2012 to 2013 which shows that Cardiff is making a slow recovery to try to reach passenger levels achieved over 10 years ago.
• 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.
• The airport is not only the main maintenance base for British Airways but also home to a variety of aerospace-oriented firms and colleges, and therefore a major contributor to the economic development of the region.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".