Nonstop flight route between Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand and Lompoc, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chatham Islands (CHT), Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand and Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,463 miles (or 10,402 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 Chatham Islands and Vandenberg Air Force Base, 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 Chatham Islands and Vandenberg Air Force Base. 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 Chatham Islands (CHT):

• Because of Chatham Islands's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Chatham Islands 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.
• A small aviation museum is also based there, signifying the importance that aviation has played in developing the economic wealth of the island group.
• Chatham Islands (CHT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Chatham Islands (CHT) is Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL), which is nearly antipodal to Chatham Islands (meaning Chatham Islands is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport), and is located 12,410 miles (19,972 kilometers) away in Montpellier, France.
• Chatham Islands / Tuuta Airport is a small airport 10.5 nautical miles northeast of Waitangi Township on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Chatham Islands", another name for CHT is "Tuuta Airport".
• The closest airport to Chatham Islands (CHT) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is located 448 miles (722 kilometers) WNW of CHT.

Facts about Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):

• 4th Space Launch Squadron
• In addition to its military mission, the base also leases launch pad facilities to SpaceX, as well as 100 acres leased to the California Spaceport in 1995.
• From August 1950 to February 1953, Camp Cooke served as a training installation for units slated for combat in Korea, and as a summer training base for many other reserve units.
• In 1941 the United States Army sought more and better training centers for the rapid development of its armored and infantry forces.
• The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
• The furthest airport from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,479 miles (18,473 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The host unit at Vandenberg AFB is the 30th Space Wing.
• In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".