Nonstop flight route between Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States and Townsville, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU), Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States and Townsville Airport (TSV), Townsville, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,023 miles (or 12,912 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 Fort Sumner Municipal Airport and Townsville 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 Fort Sumner Municipal Airport and Townsville 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 Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU):

• For the 12-month period ending April 9, 2011, the airport had 150 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 12 per month.
• The closest airport to Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) is Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) E of FSU.
• In addition to being known as "Fort Sumner Municipal Airport", another name for FSU is "Fort Sumner Army Airfield".
• The airfield's origins date to the 1920s when the Transcontinental Air Transport airline built an airfield in Fort Sumner as part of its coast-to-coast air passenger network, but the site was abandoned when the airline's ambitious plans collapsed in the Great Depression.
• Because of Fort Sumner Municipal Airport's high elevation of 4,165 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at FSU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make FSU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The airfield was reopened in February 1941, and was rebuilt in 1942 by the United States Army Air Forces as a World War II training airfield.
• Fort Sumner Municipal Airport covers an area of 960 acres at an elevation of 4,165 feet above mean sea level.
• Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,167 miles (17,971 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Townsville Airport (TSV):

• The airport is the Northern Australian focus city for Virgin Australia, and has developed an aerospace precinct attracting major civil and military maintenance activities.
• Because of Townsville Airport's relatively low elevation of 18 feet, planes can take off or land at Townsville 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.
• The airport was expanded again in 1987 when a redevelopment of the international terminal opened to cater for domestic traffic.
• In the mid-1990s domestic flights started to decrease, with some services being cut back by Qantas and Ansett.
• The furthest airport from Townsville Airport (TSV) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,884 miles (19,125 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• On 13 December 2003, an "Open Day" was held for Townsville residents to view the new look airport.
• The closest airport to Townsville Airport (TSV) is Charters Towers Airport (CXT), which is located 63 miles (102 kilometers) SSW of TSV.
• Townsville Airport (TSV) has 2 runways.
• In April 1980, Sir Rupert Murdoch and Sir Peter Abeles, the new owners of Ansett, were petitioning the Federal Government for international flights to begin in some regional centres of Australia.
• Townsville Airport handled 1,644,089 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Townsville Airport", other names for TSV include "Garbutt Airport" and "Townsville International Airport".