Nonstop flight route between South Lake Tahoe, California, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lake Tahoe Airport (TVL), South Lake Tahoe, California, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,124 miles (or 8,247 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 Lake Tahoe Airport 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 Lake Tahoe Airport 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 Lake Tahoe Airport (TVL):

• The ban on airline jets then ended, and jet flights resumed in 1983 on AirCal McDonnell Douglas MD-80s and later Boeing 737-300s.
• The furthest airport from Lake Tahoe Airport (TVL) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,214 miles (18,048 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Holiday Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops served Lake Tahoe in the 1960s and early 1970s, followed by Pacific Southwest Airlines and Air California Electras.
• The closest airport to Lake Tahoe Airport (TVL) is Minden-Tahoe Airport (MEV), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) ENE of TVL.
• Because of Lake Tahoe Airport's high elevation of 6,264 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at TVL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make TVL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Lake Tahoe Airport (TVL) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• The history of the airport extends back to the early 1940s, when the Air Ministry requisitioned land in the rural Vale of Glamorgan to set up a wartime satellite aerodrome and training base, named RAF Rhoose, for Royal Air Force Spitfire pilots.
• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• However, it emerged that the Airport had applied for £5 million of payments from the Welsh Assembly Government to deal with unspecified development at the terminal.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• 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.
• 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 (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was used by 2.1 million passengers in 2008, falling to around 1.1 million passengers in 2013, according to the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, a reduction of nearly 50% since 2008, making it the 21st busiest airport in the UK in terms of passenger numbers.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• 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.