Nonstop flight route between Fox Glacier, New Zealand and Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fox Glacier Aerodrome (FGL), Fox Glacier, New Zealand and Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST), Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,538 miles (or 18,569 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 Fox Glacier Aerodrome and Maastricht Aachen 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 Fox Glacier Aerodrome and Maastricht Aachen 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 Fox Glacier Aerodrome (FGL):

• The closest airport to Fox Glacier Aerodrome (FGL) is Mount Cook Airport (MON), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) SSE of FGL.
• The furthest airport from Fox Glacier Aerodrome (FGL) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Fox Glacier Aerodrome (meaning Fox Glacier Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,356 miles (19,884 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.

Facts about Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST):

• After the allied invasion of Normandy, the USAAF Ninth Air Force, specifically the IX Engineer Command, was tasked with constructing temporary airfields close to the advancing front.
• As Nazi Germany was rapidly collapsing, the front was already well into Germany by the time the field was ready, and no direct combat sorties were operated from Y-44.
• Maastricht Aachen Airport handled 36,300 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) is NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) ENE of MST.
• The instrument landing system for runway 21 was upgraded to category III in 2008, which allows landings in very low visibility conditions.
• The furthest airport from Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,935 miles (19,207 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The field was built in less than 2 months and was operational on 22 March 1945, and was designated Y-44.
• On 14 May 1985, Pope John Paul II held an open air mass for 50,000 people at the airport, as part of his visit to the Netherlands.
• An ILS system, which allows landings in poor weather, was built in 1967, for runway 22 only.
• Because of Maastricht Aachen Airport's relatively low elevation of 375 feet, planes can take off or land at Maastricht Aachen 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.
• Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) currently has only 1 runway.
• The international air traffic control area control centre for EUROCONTROL was built at the airport.
• The first unit to be based at the field was the 31st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, flying the F-6, a reconnaissance version of the P-51 Mustang.