Nonstop flight route between Château-Thierry, France and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY), Château-Thierry, France and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 341 miles (or 548 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 Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome and MoD St Athan, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY):

• The closest airport to Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY) is Reims-Champagne Air Base (RHE), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) ENE of XCY.
• Because of Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 723 feet, planes can take off or land at Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome 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 Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (meaning Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,073 miles (19,430 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome", another name for XCY is "Aérodrome de Château-Thierry - Belleau".
• Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY) currently has only 1 runway.

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.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• 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.
• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 26 August 1993 an ATC civilian instructor was seriously injured and the RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot, Group Captain Roger Sweatman, was killed when their Chipmunk trainer, on an air experience flight, crashed after encountering difficulties during a simulated emergency low-height manoeuvre on take-off.
• 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.