Nonstop flight route between Taylor, Arizona, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Taylor Airport (TYZ), Taylor, Arizona, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,035 miles (or 8,103 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 Taylor 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 Taylor 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 Taylor Airport (TYZ):

• Because of Taylor Airport's high elevation of 5,820 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at TYZ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make TYZ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Taylor Airport (TYZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Taylor Airport", another name for TYZ is "TYL".
• The closest airport to Taylor Airport (TYZ) is Show Low Regional Airport (SOW), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) SSE of TYZ.
• The furthest airport from Taylor Airport (TYZ) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,346 miles (18,259 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

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.
• 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 closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of 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.
• 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.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• 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.
• 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.