Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Whangarei, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Whangarei Airport (WRE), Whangarei, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,260 miles (or 18,121 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 RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Whangarei 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 RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Whangarei 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 RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):

• Operations from Alconbury with No.
• RAF Alconbury is about 0.308 sq mi in area.
• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• The furthest airport from RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Satellite bases were considered one answer to this threat – a landing ground within reasonable road travel distance of the parent airfield to which aircraft could be diverted if the home station was bombed or likely to be attacked.
• The 423 ABG command section and orderly room are located at Alconbury as are many of the support units and recreational facilities for the area.
• The host unit at RAF Alconbury is the 423rd Air Base Group which supplies host unit services for Alconbury as well as RAF Molesworth.

Facts about Whangarei Airport (WRE):

• Whangarei Airport (WRE) has 2 runways.
• Ansett went into liquidation in 2001, and this resulted in Air New Zealand's subsidary Eagle Airways being the only major airline operating out of the airport.
• The furthest airport from Whangarei Airport (WRE) is Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport (TNG), which is nearly antipodal to Whangarei Airport (meaning Whangarei Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport), and is located 12,421 miles (19,989 kilometers) away in Tangier, Morocco.
• Whangarei District Airport no longer has an Aero Club due to a drop in membership and private flying.
• The closest airport to Whangarei Airport (WRE) is Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) WSW of WRE.
• The Whangarei District Council approved an upgrade of the main runway and this was completed in April 2009.
• In 2009, airport passenger numbers were increasing steadily, with flight numbers increasing also, reaching a peak of 10 return flights to Auckland and 2 return flights to Wellington on weekdays.
• Because of Whangarei Airport's relatively low elevation of 133 feet, planes can take off or land at Whangarei 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.
• There are also several private aircraft hangars situated around the airport, including one that previously housed a Aero L-29 Delfín jet in 2008.
• The control tower was closed down in 1988 as the airport was too small to warrant the service.