Nonstop flight route between Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Los Alamos Airport (LAM), Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,821 miles (or 7,758 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 Los Alamos 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 Los Alamos 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 Los Alamos Airport (LAM):

• The airport was built in 1947 by the Atomic Energy Commission as part of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, but the federal government transferred the facility to county ownership in 2008.
• Los Alamos Airport (LAM) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Los Alamos Airport", another name for LAM is "Los Alamos County Airport".
• Because of Los Alamos Airport's high elevation of 7,171 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LAM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LAM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Los Alamos Airport (LAM) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,157 miles (17,956 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Los Alamos Airport covers an area of 89 acres at an elevation of 7,171 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Los Alamos Airport (LAM) is Ohkay Owingeh Airport (ESO), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) NE of LAM.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

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