Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Oamaru, North Otago, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Oamaru Airport (OAM), Oamaru, North Otago, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,932 miles (or 12,766 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Oamaru 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Oamaru 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):

• The base's runway was closed on 31 December 1996 for aircraft operations.
• Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place in Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana, United States.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• Following World War II, Great Falls Army Air Base played an important role in US defense during the Cold War era.
• In 1957, under the control of the 801st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, the Malmstrom AFB radar station became operational with AN/FPS-20 search and AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars.
• The furthest airport from Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,495 miles (16,891 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Great Falls played a major aerial defense role in North American air defense mission.
• The closest airport to Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Great Falls International Airport (GTF), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of GFA.
• With the phaseout of the B-36 from the inventory in the late 1950s, the need for fighter escorts of SAC bombers was eliminated.

Facts about Oamaru Airport (OAM):

• The closest airport to Oamaru Airport (OAM) is Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport) (TIU), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) N of OAM.
• When scheduled services resumed in 2006 and the first BAe Jetstream 32EP arrived from Christchurch a crowd of approximately 500 people were present to view its landing.
• Oamaru Airport (OAM) has 3 runways.
• Because of Oamaru Airport's relatively low elevation of 99 feet, planes can take off or land at Oamaru 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 furthest airport from Oamaru Airport (OAM) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Oamaru Airport (meaning Oamaru Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,318 miles (19,825 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• Oamaru Airport is an airport located 20 km north of Oamaru just alongside of state highway 1, at Pururi in the North Otago region and the Waitaki District of New Zealand.