Nonstop flight route between Braintree, England, United Kingdom and Sion, Switzerland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WXF to SIR:
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- About this route
- WXF Airport Information
- SIR Airport Information
- Facts about WXF
- Facts about SIR
- Map of Nearest Airports to WXF
- List of Nearest Airports to WXF
- Map of Furthest Airports from WXF
- List of Furthest Airports from WXF
- Map of Nearest Airports to SIR
- List of Nearest Airports to SIR
- Map of Furthest Airports from SIR
- List of Furthest Airports from SIR
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF), Braintree, England, United Kingdom and Sion Airport (SIR), Sion, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 503 miles (or 809 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 relatively short distance between MDPGA Wethersfield and Sion Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | WXF / EGVT |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Braintree, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 51°58'26"N by 0°30'21"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| Airport Type: | Military airfield, private airfield |
| Elevation: | 322 feet (98 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 3 |
| View all routes: | Routes from WXF |
| More Information: | WXF Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SIR / LSGS |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Sion, Switzerland |
| GPS Coordinates: | 46°13'10"N by 7°19'36"E |
| Area Served: | Sion, Switzerland |
| Elevation: | 1585 feet (483 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SIR |
| More Information: | SIR Maps & Info |
Facts about MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF):
- The furthest airport from MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,856 miles (19,080 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- In 1978 the British and American Governments agreed to establish a Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers unit in the UK.
- Because of MDPGA Wethersfield's relatively low elevation of 322 feet, planes can take off or land at MDPGA Wethersfield 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.
- Formerly known as RAF Wethersfield, it opened in 1944.
- The closest airport to MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) is London Stansted Airport (STN), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) WSW of WXF.
- In 1951, as a result of the Cold War threat of the Soviet Union, the British provided RAF Wethersfield to the USAF as part of their NATO commitment.
- The 20th Fighter Bomber Wing established an operational detachment at Wheelus AB, Libya, in February 1958.
- The 66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Upper Heyford was inactivated and elements were moved to Wethersfield.
- Starting in July 1966, bases in Turkey, Spain, and Italy were transferred from Tactical Air Command to USAFE.
- In addition to being known as "MDPGA Wethersfield", another name for WXF is "RAF Wethersfield".
- MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF) has 3 runways.
- During the late 1940s the base was used as a winter camping ground for Chipperfield's Circus.
Facts about Sion Airport (SIR):
- Sion Airport (SIR) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Sion Airport (SIR) is Aosta Valley Airport (AOT), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) S of SIR.
- The furthest airport from Sion Airport (SIR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Sion Airport (meaning Sion Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,188 miles (19,615 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- In addition to being known as "Sion Airport", other names for SIR include "Aéroport de Sion" and "LSGS /LSMS".
