Nonstop flight route between Piacenza, Italy and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from QPZ to DGX:
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- About this route
- QPZ Airport Information
- DGX Airport Information
- Facts about QPZ
- Facts about DGX
- Map of Nearest Airports to QPZ
- List of Nearest Airports to QPZ
- Map of Furthest Airports from QPZ
- List of Furthest Airports from QPZ
- 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 Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base (QPZ), Piacenza, Italy and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 753 miles (or 1,211 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 Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base and MoD St Athan, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | QPZ / LIMS |
Airport Name: | Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base |
Location: | Piacenza, Italy |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°54'47"N by 9°43'23"E |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 456 feet (139 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from QPZ |
More Information: | QPZ 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 Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base (QPZ):
- Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base (QPZ) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base's relatively low elevation of 456 feet, planes can take off or land at Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base 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 Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base (QPZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base (meaning Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,122 miles (19,509 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- The closest airport to Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base (QPZ) is Parma Airport (PMF), which is located 29 miles (46 kilometers) ESE of QPZ.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
- MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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 training to be carried out at St Athan was to be specialist phase 2 and phase 3 engineering courses of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
- MOD St Athan is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales.
- In March 2003 it was confirmed that a new hi-tech maintenance centre would be built, creating 3,300 jobs.
- 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.