Nonstop flight route between Vernal, Utah, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vernal Regional Airport (VEL), Vernal, Utah, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,694 miles (or 7,555 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 Vernal Regional 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 Vernal Regional 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 Vernal Regional Airport (VEL):

• The furthest airport from Vernal Regional Airport (VEL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,947 miles (17,617 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Vernal Regional Airport (VEL) is Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport (RKS), which is located 83 miles (134 kilometers) NNE of VEL.
• Vernal Regional Airport (VEL) has 2 runways.
• The airport covers 254 acres at an elevation of 5,278 feet.
• Because of Vernal Regional Airport's high elevation of 5,278 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at VEL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make VEL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Vernal Regional Airport", another name for VEL is "Vernal - Uintah County Airport".
• Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 5,474 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 3,805 in 2009 and 4,461 in 2010.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of 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.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• The MOD later decided that DARA's 'Fast Jets' and 'Engines' businesses would close by April 2007, although the 'Large Aircraft' business would continue and, on 14 April 2005, the Project Red Dragon super-hangar opened and DARA moved its VC10 operations from its existing 'Twin Peaks' hangar into the new facility.
• After the war, airmen of the Airframe and Engine trades continued to train at St Athan, but in 1955 this training dispersed to RAF Kirkham and RAF Weeton.
• 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.
• MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.