Nonstop flight route between Christchurch, New Zealand and San Diego, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Christchurch International Airport (CHC), Christchurch, New Zealand and San Diego International Airport (SAN), San Diego, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,879 miles (or 11,071 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 San Diego International 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 San Diego International 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 handled 556,096 passengers last year.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• There are several general aviation organisations operating from the airport.
• 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 (CHC) has 3 runways.
• 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.
• As the gateway for Christchurch and the South Island, Christchurch International Airport is New Zealand’s second largest airport.

Facts about San Diego International Airport (SAN):

• In February 2008, San Diego International Airport was one of the first major airports in the U.S.
• San Diego International Airport (SAN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to San Diego International Airport (SAN) is NAS North Island (NZY), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of SAN.
• Runway 27, is a localizer-only approach and is unusable for landing when visibility drops below about 2 miles.
• Because of San Diego International Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at San Diego 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 San Diego International Airport (SAN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,540 miles (18,571 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The original terminal was on the north side of the airport and was used until the 1960s.
• The top five airlines by market share in 2011 are Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and Alaska Airlines.
• In addition to being known as "San Diego International Airport", another name for SAN is "Lindbergh Field".
• Convair had aircraft manufacturing plants near the field and used it for test and delivery flights from 1935 to 1995.