Nonstop flight route between Blenheim, New Zealand and Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Woodbourne Airport (BHE), Blenheim, New Zealand and Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR), Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,829 miles (or 15,818 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 Woodbourne Airport and Svalbard Airport, Longyear, 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 Woodbourne Airport and Svalbard Airport, Longyear. 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 Woodbourne Airport (BHE):

• Because of Woodbourne Airport's relatively low elevation of 109 feet, planes can take off or land at Woodbourne 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 Woodbourne Airport (BHE) is Bragança Airport (BGC), which is nearly antipodal to Woodbourne Airport (meaning Woodbourne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Bragança Airport), and is located 12,399 miles (19,954 kilometers) away in Bragança, Portugal.
• Air New Zealand operate daily up to four flights to Auckland, eight flights to Wellington and three flights to Christchurch
• The closest airport to Woodbourne Airport (BHE) is Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN), which is located 37 miles (59 kilometers) WNW of BHE.
• Woodbourne Airport (BHE) has 3 runways.
• The terminal building is scheduled for major renovation in 2014 to cope with growing passenger demand.

Facts about Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR):

• On 14 August 1987, Braathens SAFE re-entered the market, flying in parallel with SAS to Tromsø and Oslo.
• Because of Svalbard Airport, Longyear's relatively low elevation of 94 feet, planes can take off or land at Svalbard Airport, Longyear 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 Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,170 miles (16,367 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• The closest airport to Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) is Honningsvåg Airport, Valan (HVG), which is located 534 miles (859 kilometers) SSE of LYR.
• Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Svalbard Airport, Longyear handled 126,350 passengers last year.
• The Svalbard Treaty specifies that no military installations are permitted on the archipelago.
• While the Catalina was suitable for postal flights, it was not suitable for a permanent solution for transporting passengers and freight, mainly due to its small size.
• In addition to being known as "Svalbard Airport, Longyear", another name for LYR is "Svalbard lufthavn, Longyear".