Nonstop flight route between Columbus, New Mexico, United States and Rurutu, French Polynesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbus Municipal Airport (CUS), Columbus, New Mexico, United States and Rurutu Airport (RUR), Rurutu, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,734 miles (or 7,619 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 Rurutu 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 Rurutu 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):

• The next use of the airfield was when the Department of Commerce refitted the facility as one of its network of Intermediate Landing Fields, which were established in the 1920s & 1930s to serve as emergency landing fields along commercial airways between major cities.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• Columbus Municipal Airport (CUS) currently has only 1 runway.
• Today, efforts are being made to restore part of the airport and re-establish it as an active facility for general aviation.
• Using its base in Columbus, the 1st Aero Squadron concentrated on carrying mail and dispatches between Columbus and Pershing's Army columns moving south into Mexico.
• 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.
• Twelve R-2s were delivered to the squadron in May, but the planes, which had been very hastily constructed, were missing vital spare parts and had faulty wiring and leaky fuel tanks.

Facts about Rurutu Airport (RUR):

• Because of Rurutu Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Rurutu 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.
• Rurutu Airport (RUR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Rurutu Airport (RUR) is Sharq Al-Owainat Airport (GSQ), which is nearly antipodal to Rurutu Airport (meaning Rurutu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Sharq Al-Owainat Airport), and is located 12,425 miles (19,996 kilometers) away in Sharq Al-Owainat, Egypt.
• The closest airport to Rurutu Airport (RUR) is Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT), which is located 356 miles (572 kilometers) NNE of RUR.