Nonstop flight route between Saarbrücken, Germany and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Saarbrücken Airport (SCN), Saarbrücken, Germany and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 489 miles (or 787 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 Saarbrücken Airport 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 Saarbrücken Airport (SCN):

• In addition to being known as "Saarbrücken Airport", another name for SCN is "Flughafen Saarbrücken".
• The furthest airport from Saarbrücken Airport (SCN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Saarbrücken Airport (meaning Saarbrücken Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,027 miles (19,355 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Saarbrücken Airport consists of one passenger terminal building which features check-in-facilities as well as some shops and restaurants.
• Saarbrücken Airport (SCN) has 2 runways.
• It wasn't until 1964 and several years of reconstruction work that the airport in Ensheim could finally open.
• The airport is linked to motorways A1/A6 which connect to Saarbrücken itself, to the cities of Trier and Mannheim and to Luxembourg.
• The closest airport to Saarbrücken Airport (SCN) is Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) E of SCN.
• The nearest other minor international airport is Zweibrücken Airport approx.

Facts about MoD St Athan (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.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF St Athan has been used to house a number of army units throughout its life and, in 2003, the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards moved from Aldershot to St Athan - the first time they have been based in Wales since they were formed in 1915.
• 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.
• 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.