Nonstop flight route between Buchanan, Liberia and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Buchanan Airport (UCN), Buchanan, Liberia and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,167 miles (or 5,096 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 Buchanan 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 Buchanan 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 Buchanan Airport (UCN):

• Buchanan Airport (UCN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Buchanan Airport (UCN) is Nauru International Airport (INU), which is nearly antipodal to Buchanan Airport (meaning Buchanan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Nauru International Airport), and is located 12,012 miles (19,331 kilometers) away in Yaren, Nauru.
• The closest airport to Buchanan Airport (UCN) is Roberts International Airport Roberts Field (ROB), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) NW of UCN.
• Because of Buchanan Airport's relatively low elevation of 41 feet, planes can take off or land at Buchanan 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.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• During the 1960s, a driving school was established.
• 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 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.
• 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.