Nonstop flight route between Varadero, Matanzas Province, Cuba and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA), Varadero, Matanzas Province, Cuba and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,480 miles (or 7,210 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 Juan Gualberto Gómez 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 Juan Gualberto Gómez 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 Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA):

• Because of Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport's relatively low elevation of 210 feet, planes can take off or land at Juan Gualberto Gómez 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 Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,679 miles (18,795 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport", another name for VRA is "Aeropuerto Juan Gualberto Gómez".
• The terminal building has shops for tourists, a large departures lounge cafeterias and a VIP lounge.
• The closest airport to Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA) is Kawama Airport (VRO), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) NE of VRA.
• There has been 5 significant incidents involving aircraft from or en route to the airport since the 1950s.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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 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 MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.