Nonstop flight route between Gisborne, New Zealand and Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gisborne Airport (GIS), Gisborne, New Zealand and Saipan International Airport (SPN), Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,261 miles (or 6,857 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 Gisborne Airport and Saipan International 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 Gisborne Airport and Saipan International 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 Gisborne Airport (GIS):

• The Eastland Group Website
• On 16 December 2004, Gisborne District Council voted to let Eastland Group manage the airport and lease the assets from 1 April 2005.
• The furthest airport from Gisborne Airport (GIS) is Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC), which is nearly antipodal to Gisborne Airport (meaning Gisborne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Alicante-Elche Airport), and is located 12,353 miles (19,881 kilometers) away in Alicante, Spain.
• Because of Gisborne Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Gisborne 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.
• Gisborne Airport (GIS) has 4 runways.
• Eastland Group pay's Gisborne District Council an annual rental fee indexed to passenger numbers and is accountable for all capital investment.
• The closest airport to Gisborne Airport (GIS) is Whakatane Airport (WHK), which is located 77 miles (124 kilometers) NW of GIS.

Facts about Saipan International Airport (SPN):

• Saipan International Airport (SPN) currently has only 1 runway.
• SPN was a sugarcane field before the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service constructed a temporary landing field on the site in 1933.
• A Star Marianas plane crashed during takeoff on November 17, 2012 on its return from Tinian.
• The closest airport to Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Tinian International Airport (TIQ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SW of SPN.
• Once in American hands, Isely Field was expanded considerably to support Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortress operations.
• The furthest airport from Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Saipan International Airport (meaning Saipan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,125 miles (19,514 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
• Because of Saipan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Saipan International 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.
• In addition to being known as "Saipan International Airport", other names for SPN include "Francisco C. Ada Airport" and "GSN".
• With the end of the war the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for scrapping, or were flown to storage facilities in Texas or Arizona.