Nonstop flight route between Mangere, New Zealand and Buka Island, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Auckland Airport (AKL), Mangere, New Zealand and Buka Island Airport (BUA), Buka Island, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,525 miles (or 4,064 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 Auckland Airport and Buka Island 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 Auckland Airport and Buka Island Airport. 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 Auckland Airport (AKL):

• Auckland Airport is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand with 14,829,393 passengers in the year ended November 2013.
• The furthest airport from Auckland Airport (AKL) is Málaga Airport (AGP), which is nearly antipodal to Auckland Airport (meaning Auckland Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Málaga Airport), and is located 12,391 miles (19,942 kilometers) away in Málaga, Spain.
• Auckland Airport (AKL) has 2 runways.
• Check-in counters are at the eastern end of the international terminal building on the ground level.
• Auckland Airport handled 14,829,393 passengers last year.
• Gates 50–59 are used by 3rd level operators Air Chathams, Great Barrier Airlines, Flight Hauraki, Fly My Sky and Sunair.
• In 2007, construction began on a second runway to the north of the current one.
• Because of Auckland Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Auckland 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.
• AIAL appears on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and Australian Stock Exchange.
• The closest airport to Auckland Airport (AKL) is Ardmore Airport (AMZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of AKL.

Facts about Buka Island Airport (BUA):

• The furthest airport from Buka Island Airport (BUA) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,781 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• The closest airport to Buka Island Airport (BUA) is Nissan Island Airport (IIS), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) NNW of BUA.
• Because of Buka Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Buka Island 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.
• Buka Island Airport (BUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Today the airport is the primary air portal into Bougainville, and even 60 years after the war, wreckage from the military use of the airfield by the Japanese and Americans is easily found in the area.
• The origins of the airfield begin in 1941 when Australian troops built gun pits around a primitive airstrip in December 1941.