Nonstop flight route between Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga and Filton, Bristol, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from TBU to FZO:
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- About this route
- TBU Airport Information
- FZO Airport Information
- Facts about TBU
- Facts about FZO
- Map of Nearest Airports to TBU
- List of Nearest Airports to TBU
- Map of Furthest Airports from TBU
- List of Furthest Airports from TBU
- Map of Nearest Airports to FZO
- List of Nearest Airports to FZO
- Map of Furthest Airports from FZO
- List of Furthest Airports from FZO
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU), Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga and Bristol Filton Airport (FZO), Filton, Bristol, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,307 miles (or 16,587 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 Fuaʻamotu International Airport and Bristol Filton Airport, 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 Fuaʻamotu International Airport and Bristol Filton Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | TBU / NFTF |
Airport Name: | Fuaʻamotu International Airport |
Location: | Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga |
GPS Coordinates: | 21°14'27"S by 175°8'57"W |
Area Served: | Nukuʻalofa, Tonga |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Civil Aviation |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 126 feet (38 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from TBU |
More Information: | TBU Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FZO / EGTG |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Filton, Bristol, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°31'9"N by 2°35'36"W |
Area Served: | Bristol |
Operator/Owner: | BAE Systems Aviation Services Ltd |
Airport Type: | Private |
Elevation: | 225 feet (69 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from FZO |
More Information: | FZO Maps & Info |
Facts about Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU):
- It is the strength of the runway rather than the length that restricts operations from Fuaʻamotu.
- Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU) is Lifuka Island Airport (HPA), which is located 114 miles (183 kilometers) NNE of TBU.
- Because of Fuaʻamotu International Airport's relatively low elevation of 126 feet, planes can take off or land at Fuaʻamotu International 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.
- Until August 2006, Peau Vavaʻu used a DC-3 on their domestic routes, but this has recently been replaced with a Jetstream 41.
- Under Tongan law, Fuaʻamotu International Airport is closed on Sundays — only to be opened in distress, after the minister's approval.
- The furthest airport from Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU) is Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport (TMR), which is nearly antipodal to Fuaʻamotu International Airport (meaning Fuaʻamotu International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport), and is located 12,322 miles (19,830 kilometers) away in Tamanrasset, Algeria.
Facts about Bristol Filton Airport (FZO):
- Filton's runway is one of the widest, at 91 m and is a considerable length at 2,467 m long, having been extended first for the maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon airliner in 1949 and again in the late 1960s for Concorde.
- The furthest airport from Bristol Filton Airport (FZO) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,930 miles (19,200 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
- Because of Bristol Filton Airport's relatively low elevation of 225 feet, planes can take off or land at Bristol Filton 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.
- In 1954 BAC opened a technical college for apprentices and trainees at the bottom of Filton Hill.
- Bristol Filton Airport (FZO) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Bristol Filton Airport (FZO) is Bristol Airport (BRS), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SSW of FZO.
- During the early 1950s, British Overseas Airways Corporation flew their Lockheed Constellations and Boeing Stratocruisers into Filton to be serviced in the newly completed Brabazon Hangar, then the largest hangar in the world.
- On 26 November 2003, Concorde 216 made the final ever Concorde flight from Heathrow, passing over the Bay of Biscay before making a low pass over Bristol and finally returning to Filton where it is now maintained on a temporary apron, although has not been open to the public as a visitor attraction since 2010.
- In addition to being known as "Bristol Filton Airport", another name for FZO is "Filton Aerodrome".
- The length of the runway and its closed-to-passengers status made it an ideal dispersion site for the nation's airborne nuclear deterrent during the Cold War.
- Aeroengine production started north of Filton Aerodrome, with the acquisition of Cosmos Engineering in 1920.
- Before WWII there was a belief that German bombers had insufficient range to reach Filton, however, the invasion of France by the Nazis in 1940 changed the situation.