Nonstop flight route between Mangere, New Zealand and Lompoc, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Auckland Airport (AKL), Mangere, 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 Auckland Airport 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 Auckland Airport 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 Auckland Airport (AKL):

• In 2007, construction began on a second runway to the north of the current one.
• Before 2006 Auckland Airport arriving and departing passengers were allowed to mingle airside.
• On 8 July 2010, AIAL announced it had entered into an agreement to take a 24.99% shareholding in Queenstown Airport Corporation Limited, the operator of Queenstown Airport, and form a strategic alliance between the two airports.
• 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.
• Gates 50–59 are used by 3rd level operators Air Chathams, Great Barrier Airlines, Flight Hauraki, Fly My Sky and Sunair.
• Auckland Airport handled 14,829,393 passengers last year.
• Auckland Airport (AKL) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Auckland Airport (AKL) is Ardmore Airport (AMZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of AKL.
• 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 decided that rather than building a new sub-top level to stream arriving passengers, they would build a new departures floor for passengers to "drop down" into the existing gate lounges on the first floor, which would be closed off from a central arrivals corridor by glass.

Facts about Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):

• The host unit at Vandenberg AFB is the 30th Space Wing.
• The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
• 30th Operations Group
• 21st Space Operations Squadron
• General Cooke was a cavalry officer whose military career spanned almost half a century, beginning with his graduation from West Point in 1827 to his retirement in 1873.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
• 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.