Nonstop flight route between British Columbia, Canada and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Alert Bay Airport (YAL), British Columbia, Canada and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,655 miles (or 7,492 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 Alert Bay Airport and Cardiff Airport, 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 Alert Bay Airport and Cardiff Airport. 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 Alert Bay Airport (YAL):

• The closest airport to Alert Bay Airport (YAL) is Port McNeill Airport (YMP), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) W of YAL.
• The furthest airport from Alert Bay Airport (YAL) is East London Airport (ELS), which is located 10,675 miles (17,179 kilometers) away in East London, South Africa.
• Alert Bay Airport (YAL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Alert Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 240 feet, planes can take off or land at Alert Bay 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 Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• Because of Cardiff Airport's relatively low elevation of 220 feet, planes can take off or land at Cardiff 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.
• Rees-Williams thought diverting the river at Pengam would be a problem, and feared that the tall chimney stacks of the nearby East Moors Steelworks could pose a safety hazard to aircraft.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 27 March 2013, the Welsh Government announced it had purchased the Cardiff International Airport Ltd from TBI Ltd as a going concern for £52,000,000.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• The Welsh Conservative Party said that the nationalisation of Cardiff Airport by the Welsh Labour Government was a socialist vanity project and that the money should have been spent on public services.
• The airport was used by 2.1 million passengers in 2008, falling to around 1.1 million passengers in 2013, according to the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, a reduction of nearly 50% since 2008, making it the 21st busiest airport in the UK in terms of passenger numbers.
• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• The furthest airport from Cardiff Airport (CWL) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,958 miles (19,244 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• As of March 2013, the Welsh Government is in the process of acquiring Cardiff Airport from TBI/Abertis, who may also divest themselves of all their airport assets following international criticism of their management of these resources.
• On 16 May 2012, it was announced that airport Managing Director, Patrick Duffy, had left his position amid mounting pressure from the Welsh Government on the airport owners Abertis to improve the state of the airport and improve the services it offers, or sell the facility to an investor in a proposed public-private partnership.
• In 2006 the Irish low cost carrier Ryanair withdrew from the airport ending 5 years of service on the Cardiff to Dublin route daily.
• In 2007 a new airline was mooted as a new home carrier at the airport.