Nonstop flight route between Christchurch, New Zealand and Butare, Rwanda:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Christchurch International Airport (CHC), Christchurch, New Zealand and Butare Airport (BTQ), Butare, Rwanda would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,505 miles (or 13,688 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 Christchurch International Airport and Butare 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 Christchurch International Airport and Butare 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 Christchurch International Airport (CHC):

• Because of Christchurch International Airport's relatively low elevation of 123 feet, planes can take off or land at Christchurch 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.
• Christchurch International Airport (CHC) has 3 runways.
• 5,592,529 passengers travelled in and out of Christchurch International Airport from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011.
• The furthest airport from Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Christchurch International Airport (meaning Christchurch International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,389 miles (19,939 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• China Southern Airlines has stated it intends to start a Guangzhou to Christchurch service in the future.
• There is also the option of off-airport car parking facilities such as Christchurch Park & Fly offering a low cost alternative to parking at the airport carparks.
• Christchurch International Airport handled 556,096 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is Ashburton Aerodrome (ASG), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) SW of CHC.
• Runway 11/29 will be widened and extended 244m west into the nearby golf course and a RESA will be added to each end to make it comply with ICAO standards.
• The prevailing wind in Christchurch is from the north-east and to a lesser extent from the south-west, but the city is also affected by Canterbury's Nor'wester foehn wind.

Facts about Butare Airport (BTQ):

• The furthest airport from Butare Airport (BTQ) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,946 miles (19,224 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• In addition to being known as "Butare Airport", another name for BTQ is "Butare".
• The closest airport to Butare Airport (BTQ) is Kirundo Airport (KRE), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) E of BTQ.
• Butare Airport (BTQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Butare Airport is a small civilian airport that serves the town of Butare.
• Because of Butare Airport's high elevation of 5,801 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BTQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BTQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.