Nonstop flight route between Christchurch, New Zealand and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Christchurch International Airport (CHC), Christchurch, New Zealand and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,858 miles (or 19,083 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 Cardiff 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 Cardiff 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):

• Christchurch International Airport (CHC) has 3 runways.
• Christchurch International Airport handled 556,096 passengers last year.
• A number of different taxi and shuttle companies operate services from the airport terminals.
• With the development of Antarctic scientific expeditions, since the 1950s Christchurch Airport has been the base for all Antarctic flights operated by the United States Navy, United States Air Force, Air National Guard and Royal New Zealand Air Force as part of Operation Deep Freeze.
• Christchurch Airport recently underwent an extensive expansion project.
• The closest airport to Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is Ashburton Aerodrome (ASG), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) SW of CHC.
• 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.
• 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.
• China Southern Airlines has stated it intends to start a Guangzhou to Christchurch service in the future.
• Since the closure of Wigram Air Force Base, the Royal New Zealand Air Force always flies to Christchurch International Airport when required to visit the city.

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• In 2012, the airport ran into a barrage of sustained criticism from the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones.
• On 1 April 1965 the Ministry of Aviation handed over the airport to Glamorgan County Council and it was renamed Glamorgan Airport.
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• Because of Cardiff Airport's relatively low elevation of 220 feet, planes can take off or land at Cardiff 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.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Cardiff Airport (CWL) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,958 miles (19,244 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• On 2 March 2009 the airport management revealed a name change for the airport along with initial development plans to improve the image of the facility.
• Following a survey conducted by the airport operator in 2008 as part of a campaign to attract additional business routes to the airport, popular destinations such as Aberdeen, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Brussels and Scandinavian cities were identified as lacking a current link.