Nonstop flight route between La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between La Palma Airport (SPC), La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,740 miles (or 2,800 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 La Palma 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 La Palma Airport (SPC):

• Because of La Palma Airport's relatively low elevation of 108 feet, planes can take off or land at La Palma 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.
• La Palma Airport (SPC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to La Palma Airport (SPC) is La Gomera Airport (GMZ), which is located 53 miles (85 kilometers) SE of SPC.
• The furthest airport from La Palma Airport (SPC) is Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), which is nearly antipodal to La Palma Airport (meaning La Palma Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lord Howe Island Airport), and is located 12,161 miles (19,570 kilometers) away in Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.

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.
• In March 2004, however, DARA announced the loss of 550 jobs at St Athan as part of streamlining to make DARA more efficient and better able to compete with the private sector for lucrative aircraft repair contracts, but also because they lost out to a direct RAF bid for a contract to upgrade the air force's fleet of ageing Harrier jump jet aircraft.
• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.
• St Athan also became the major RAF maintenance base for Vulcan, Victor, Buccaner, Phantom, Harrier, Tornado, Jaguar, Hawk and VC10 aircraft, originally under direct RAF control, but latterly under the auspices of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• 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.