Nonstop flight route between Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from MAT to DGX:
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- About this route
- MAT Airport Information
- DGX Airport Information
- Facts about MAT
- Facts about DGX
- Map of Nearest Airports to MAT
- List of Nearest Airports to MAT
- Map of Furthest Airports from MAT
- List of Furthest Airports from MAT
- Map of Nearest Airports to DGX
- List of Nearest Airports to DGX
- Map of Furthest Airports from DGX
- List of Furthest Airports from DGX
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Tshimpi Airport (Matadi Airport) (MAT), Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,077 miles (or 6,561 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 Tshimpi Airport (Matadi 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 Tshimpi Airport (Matadi 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MAT / FZAM |
Airport Name: | Tshimpi Airport (Matadi Airport) |
Location: | Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
GPS Coordinates: | 5°47'53"S by 13°26'30"E |
Elevation: | 0 feet (0 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from MAT |
More Information: | MAT Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | DGX / EGDX |
Airport Name: | MoD St Athan |
Location: | St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°24'16"N by 3°26'8"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 163 feet (50 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from DGX |
More Information: | DGX Maps & Info |
Facts about Tshimpi Airport (Matadi Airport) (MAT):
- The closest airport to Tshimpi Airport (Matadi Airport) (MAT) is Boma Airport (BOA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) W of MAT.
- Because of Tshimpi Airport (Matadi Airport)'s relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Tshimpi Airport (Matadi 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.
- The furthest airport from Tshimpi Airport (Matadi Airport) (MAT) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,750 miles (18,909 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):
- MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
- St Athan also became the major RAF maintenance base for Vulcan, Victor, Buccaner, Phantom, Harrier, Tornado, Jaguar, Hawk and VC10 aircraft, originally under direct RAF control, but latterly under the auspices of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency.
- 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 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.
- 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 new academy was claimed to create up to 5000 jobs at St Athan with a £14 billion investment over 25 years with an estimated £57.4 million spent into the local economy.
- 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.
- 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.
- MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
- Just before 1100 GMT on 11 February 2009, two Grob Tutor aircraft flying out of St Athan were involved in a mid-air collision in which two Air Training Corps cadets and their instructors, both RAF pilots, died.