Nonstop flight route between Tacoma, Washington, United States and New Plymouth, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and New Plymouth Airport (NPL), New Plymouth, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,107 miles (or 11,438 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 Gray Army Airfield and New Plymouth 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 Gray Army Airfield and New Plymouth 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 Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• The field is named in honor of Captain Lawrence C.
• Because of Gray Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Gray Army Airfield 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 "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• The furthest airport from Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The Fort Lewis airfield housed observation planes.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• World War II cantonment construction involved the demolition of some of the pre-1941 buildings.
• During the Vietnam War, GAAF not only trained helicopter units, but fixed-wing aircraft units as well.
• The closest airport to Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of GRF.

Facts about New Plymouth Airport (NPL):

• Origin Pacific Airways used to operate Jetstream J31 and Metroliner aircraft to/from Auckland and to/from Nelson 6x weekly.
• The airport is the 10th busiest airport in New Zealand with 32,791 aircraft movements in 2011.
• New Plymouth District Council has confirmed that they are designing a new terminal extension for construction in 2015.
• The furthest airport from New Plymouth Airport (NPL) is Badajoz Airport (BJZ), which is nearly antipodal to New Plymouth Airport (meaning New Plymouth Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Badajoz Airport), and is located 12,382 miles (19,928 kilometers) away in Badajoz, Spain.
• Because of New Plymouth Airport's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at New Plymouth 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.
• New Plymouth Airport (NPL) has 3 runways.
• New Plymouth Airport handled 332,178 passengers last year.
• By the end of 2012 the larger ATR 72 aircraft will provide a service to Auckland due to the demands of passenger numbers.
• The closest airport to New Plymouth Airport (NPL) is Wanganui Airport (WAG), which is located 80 miles (129 kilometers) SE of NPL.
• New Plymouth Airport serves the city of New Plymouth, and the surrounding region of Taranaki.