Nonstop flight route between Butterworth, South Africa and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from UTE to DGX:
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- About this route
- UTE Airport Information
- DGX Airport Information
- Facts about UTE
- Facts about DGX
- Map of Nearest Airports to UTE
- List of Nearest Airports to UTE
- Map of Furthest Airports from UTE
- List of Furthest Airports from UTE
- 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 RMAF Butterworth (UTE), Butterworth, South Africa and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,511 miles (or 10,479 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 RMAF Butterworth 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 RMAF Butterworth 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: | UTE / FABU |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Butterworth, South Africa |
GPS Coordinates: | 5°27'57"N by 100°23'27"E |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence (Malaysia) |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 8 feet (2 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from UTE |
More Information: | UTE 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 RMAF Butterworth (UTE):
- RMAF Butterworth (UTE) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of RMAF Butterworth's relatively low elevation of 8 feet, planes can take off or land at RMAF Butterworth 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.
- In addition to being known as "RMAF Butterworth", other names for UTE include "TUDM Butterworth", "BWH" and "WMKB".
- The closest airport to RMAF Butterworth (UTE) is RMAF Butterworth (BWH), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of UTE.
- The furthest airport from RMAF Butterworth (UTE) is Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport (PIU), which is nearly antipodal to RMAF Butterworth (meaning RMAF Butterworth is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,900 kilometers) away in Piura, Peru.
- RAF Butterworth was officially opened in October 1941, as a Royal Air Force station which was a part of the British defence plan for defending the Malayan Peninsula against an imminent threat of invasion by the Imperial Japanese forces during World War II.
- In 1957, the RAF closed the station and it was transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force and it was promptly renamed as RAAF Station Butterworth, becoming the home to numerous Australian fighter and bomber squadrons stationed in Malaya during the Cold War era.
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 last aircraft to be serviced at St Athan, a Vickers VC10, departed the site on 23 February 2012.
- 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.
- 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.
- In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- The two cadet passengers were cousins and were named as Katie Jo Davies, 15, and Nikitta Walters, 14.