Nonstop flight route between Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between CFB Cold Lake (YOD), Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,006 miles (or 6,446 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 CFB Cold Lake 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 CFB Cold Lake 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 CFB Cold Lake (YOD):

• The closest airport to CFB Cold Lake (YOD) is Bonnyville Airport (YBY), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) WSW of YOD.
• Civilian passenger service was available through the Medley passenger terminal on the periphery of the air base.
• In addition to being known as "CFB Cold Lake", another name for YOD is "Cold Lake/Group Captain R.W. McNair Airport".
• In 1990 18 sounding rockets were launched.
• The furthest airport from CFB Cold Lake (YOD) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,097 miles (16,250 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• During the 1980s, CFB Cold Lake was thrust into the international media spotlight when CLAWR was used as the target for testing of the newly developed AGM-86 air-launched cruise missiles by the USAF.
• Construction of what would become known as RCAF Station Cold Lake began in 1952 at the height of the Cold War after the site in Alberta's "Lakeland District" was chosen by the Royal Canadian Air Force for the country's premier air weapons training base.
• Cold Lake Cadet Summer Training Centre is located at 4 Wing Cold Lake, held annually from June to August.
• CFB Cold Lake (YOD) has 3 runways.

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.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• The MOD continued to negotiate the project with the Metrix Consortium, but the price rose several times, reaching £14 billion in mid-2009.
• 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.
• RAF St Athan has been used to house a number of army units throughout its life and, in 2003, the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards moved from Aldershot to St Athan - the first time they have been based in Wales since they were formed in 1915.
• 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 (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.