Nonstop flight route between Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand and Tampa, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chatham Islands (CHT), Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand and MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,707 miles (or 12,403 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 MacDill 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 MacDill 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):

• 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.
• Chatham Islands (CHT) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Chatham Islands", another name for CHT is "Tuuta Airport".
• The closest airport to Chatham Islands (CHT) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is located 448 miles (722 kilometers) WNW of CHT.
• 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.
• 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.
• The airport is the base of Air Chathams and usually houses two aircraft overnight.

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• With the United States entry into World War II, the primary mission of MacDill Field became the training of bombardment units under III Bomber Command.
• The closest airport to MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of MCF.
• The 6th Air Mobility Wing is commanded by Colonel Scott V.
• All of these airfields came under the jurisdiction of Third Air Force.
• The 6 AMW also has a collocated "Associate" wing at MacDill, the 927th Air Refueling Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command.
• Air defense of the Tampa Bay area was the mission of the 53d Pursuit Group, established at MacDIll on 15 January 1941.
• Two secondary Army Airfields, Brooksville Army Airfield and Hillsborough Army Airfield were built and opened in early 1942 to support the flight operations of MacDill and Drew Fields.
• Flying operations at MacDill began in 1941 with the base's first mission being the defense of Gulf of Mexico.
• MacDill has a total of 38 tenant units according to the official MacDill website."MacDill Air Force Base Units".
• MacDill AFB was established in 1939 as Southeast Air Base, Tampa.
• The furthest airport from MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 326th Army Air Forces Base Unit was reorganized into an Army Air Forces separation )unit to process military demobilizations.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".