Nonstop flight route between Christchurch, New Zealand and Mercury, Nevada, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from CHC to DRA:
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- About this route
- CHC Airport Information
- DRA Airport Information
- Facts about CHC
- Facts about DRA
- Map of Nearest Airports to CHC
- List of Nearest Airports to CHC
- Map of Furthest Airports from CHC
- List of Furthest Airports from CHC
- Map of Nearest Airports to DRA
- List of Nearest Airports to DRA
- Map of Furthest Airports from DRA
- List of Furthest Airports from DRA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Christchurch International Airport (CHC), Christchurch, New Zealand and Desert Rock Airport (DRA), Mercury, Nevada, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,117 miles (or 11,454 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 Desert Rock 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 Desert Rock Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | CHC / NZCH |
Airport Name: | Christchurch International Airport |
Location: | Christchurch, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 43°29'21"S by 172°31'55"E |
Area Served: | Christchurch |
Operator/Owner: | Christchurch City Council (75%) NZ Government (25%) |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 123 feet (37 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from CHC |
More Information: | CHC Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | DRA / KDRA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Mercury, Nevada, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°37'9"N by 116°1'58"W |
Operator/Owner: | Mercury, Nevada |
Airport Type: | United States Department of Energy/Nevada |
Elevation: | 1010 feet (308 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from DRA |
More Information: | DRA Maps & Info |
Facts about Christchurch International Airport (CHC):
- 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.
- The closest airport to Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is Ashburton Aerodrome (ASG), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) SW of CHC.
- Christchurch International Airport handled 556,096 passengers last year.
- The old domestic terminal has been completely demolished to make way for the new terminal.
- Christchurch International Airport (CHC) has 3 runways.
- Christchurch International Airport is the main airport that serves Christchurch, New Zealand.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Desert Rock Airport (DRA):
- The closest airport to Desert Rock Airport (DRA) is Creech Air Force Base Indian Springs Auxiliary Army Airfield (1961) Indian Springs Air Force Base (1951) Indian Springs Army Airfield Indian Springs Airport eponyms: Indian Springs, Nevada &Wilbur L. Creech[1] (INS), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of DRA.
- In addition to being known as "Desert Rock Airport", another name for DRA is "NV65".
- Desert Rock Airport (DRA) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Desert Rock Airport (DRA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,271 miles (18,139 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.