Nonstop flight route between Bossier City, Louisiana, United States and Westport, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD), Bossier City, Louisiana, United States and Westport Airport (WSZ), Westport, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,890 miles (or 12,698 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 Barksdale Air Force Base and Westport 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 Barksdale Air Force Base and Westport 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 Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD):

• The 47th Bomb Wing was assigned to NATO and was reassigned first to Langley AFB in March 1951, then afterwards to RAF Sculthorpe, England, arriving in the UK on 1 May 1951.
• Barksdale Field was named in honor of 2nd Lieutenant Eugene Hoy Barksdale on 2 February 1933.
• Units at Barksdale include the oldest bomb wing in the Air Force, the 2d Bomb Wing.
• The site was selected 5 December 1928, as the location of the airfield.
• By the mid-1930s, Barksdale Field was the headquarters and main base of the 3rd Attack Wing, equipped with the Curtiss A-12 and Northrop A-17.
• In addition to being known as "Barksdale Air Force Base", another name for BAD is "Barksdale AFB".
• Barksdale was developed as an Air Corps flying school November 1940 and the runway apron was completed mid-1941.
• The furthest airport from Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,884 miles (17,516 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• The closest airport to Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Shreveport Downtown Airport (DTN), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) WNW of BAD.

Facts about Westport Airport (WSZ):

• The furthest airport from Westport Airport (WSZ) is Braga Airport (BGZ), which is nearly antipodal to Westport Airport (meaning Westport Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Braga Airport), and is located 12,426 miles (19,998 kilometers) away in Braga, Portugal.
• Westport Airport (WSZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Westport Airport (WSZ) is Greymouth Airport (GMN), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) SSW of WSZ.
• Because of Westport Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Westport 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.