Nonstop flight route between Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand and Altus, Oklahoma, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chatham Islands (CHT), Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand and Altus Air Force Base (LTS), Altus, Oklahoma, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,268 miles (or 11,697 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 Chatham Islands and Altus Air Force Base, 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 Chatham Islands and Altus Air Force Base. 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 Chatham Islands (CHT):

• Chatham Islands (CHT) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Chatham Islands", another name for CHT is "Tuuta Airport".
• The airport is the base of Air Chathams and usually houses two aircraft overnight.
• The closest airport to Chatham Islands (CHT) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is located 448 miles (722 kilometers) WNW of CHT.
• The airport was completed in 1982 to replace an earlier built compacted grass airstrip at Te Hapupu that could only handle slow flying Safe Air Bristol Freighter aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Chatham Islands (CHT) is Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL), which is nearly antipodal to Chatham Islands (meaning Chatham Islands is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport), and is located 12,410 miles (19,972 kilometers) away in Montpellier, France.
• Because of Chatham Islands's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Chatham Islands 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.

Facts about Altus Air Force Base (LTS):

• Altus AFB, through its host 97 AMW, provides quality training to produce the finest combat-ready aircrew members for the United States Air Force.
• The closest airport to Altus Air Force Base (LTS) is Altus/Quartz Mountain Regional Airport (AXS), which is located only 5 miles (7 kilometers) WNW of LTS.
• The base would only sit idle for a few years.
• In addition to being known as "Altus Air Force Base", another name for LTS is "Altus AFB".
• In 1967, the Air Force began searching for a base that could handle the training for its strategic airlift fleet, the C-141 Starlifter and its newest and largest transport aircraft, the C-5 Galaxy.
• The furthest airport from Altus Air Force Base (LTS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,958 miles (17,635 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The post Cold War environment would bring many changes to Altus AFB.