Nonstop flight route between Tampere / Pirkkala, Finland and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP), Tampere / Pirkkala, Finland and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,229 miles (or 1,978 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 Tampere–Pirkkala 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 Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP):

• The airport is also home to the Satakunta Air Command base of the Finnish Air Force, with F-18 Hornets stationed there.
• Tampere–Pirkkala Airport handled 466,671 passengers last year.
• Because of Tampere–Pirkkala Airport's relatively low elevation of 390 feet, planes can take off or land at Tampere–Pirkkala 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 furthest airport from Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,971 miles (17,656 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Low-cost Onnibus expressbus service to Helsinki and Turku leave from Pirkkala ABC gas station, located about 4 km north from the airport, near the intersection of road 308 and road 3/E12.
• The closest airport to Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP) is Halli Airport (KEV), which is located 50 miles (80 kilometers) NE of TMP.
• There is a connection to Helsinki with one change of bus at Tampere coach station using the city bus service.
• In addition to being known as "Tampere–Pirkkala Airport", another name for TMP is "Tampere-Pirkkalan lentoasema".
• Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• 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.
• In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
• In 2009 building work was due to commence on a new defence training academy with its heart at St Athan.
• The only squadrons to operate out of St Athan on a regular basis are the University of Wales Air Squadron, flying Grob Tutors and No 634 Volunteer Gliding Squadron using Vigilant T.1s.
• 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.
• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• 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.