Nonstop flight route between Columbus, New Mexico, United States and Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbus Municipal Airport (CUS), Columbus, New Mexico, United States and Lightning Ridge Airport (LHG), Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,036 miles (or 12,932 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 Columbus Municipal Airport and Lightning Ridge 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 Columbus Municipal Airport and Lightning Ridge 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 Columbus Municipal Airport (CUS):

• Pershing crossed the border with 6,600 men a week after the Columbus raid.
• The closest airport to Columbus Municipal Airport (CUS) is Deming Municipal AirportDeming Army Airfield (DMN), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) N of CUS.
• Columbus Municipal Airport (CUS) currently has only 1 runway.
• Columbus Municipal Airport is an abandoned airport in New Mexico.
• In addition to being known as "Columbus Municipal Airport", other names for CUS include "Historical Airport", "Modern Airfield" and "0NM0".
• The airport's operations ceased abruptly with the arrest of the notorious "Columbus Air Force" drug-running gang by the DEA in the late 1970s.
• Because of Columbus Municipal Airport's high elevation of 4,024 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CUS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CUS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Columbus Municipal Airport (CUS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,433 miles (18,400 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• During the Mexican Revolution, hundreds of Pancho Villa's horsemen crossed the United States border and raided Columbus, New Mexico on 9 March 1916.
• After World War I, Columbus Airfield was used by the Army as part of their patrol flights along the Mexican border.

Facts about Lightning Ridge Airport (LHG):

• Because of Lightning Ridge Airport's relatively low elevation of 540 feet, planes can take off or land at Lightning Ridge 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.
• Lightning Ridge Airport (LHG) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Lightning Ridge Airport (LHG) is Collarenebri Airport (CRB), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) E of LHG.
• The furthest airport from Lightning Ridge Airport (LHG) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is located 11,784 miles (18,965 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.