Nonstop flight route between San Luis Obispo, California, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP), San Luis Obispo, California, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,348 miles (or 8,607 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 San Luis Obispo County Regional 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 San Luis Obispo County Regional 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 San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP):

• San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport", another name for SBP is "McChesney Field".
• Because of San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 212 feet, planes can take off or land at San Luis Obispo County Regional 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.
• San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, McChesney Field, is near San Luis Obispo, California.
• The closest airport to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP) is O'Sullivan Army Heliport (CSL), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SBP.
• The furthest airport from San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,446 miles (18,421 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The airport has a terminal building, restaurant, numerous hangars and airplane related businesses.

Facts about MoD St Athan (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.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• 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.
• During the war a dummy airfield was built using wood and cardboard a few miles west of the original airfield and successful efforts were made to hide the proper field.
• 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.