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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States and Tauranga Airport (TRG), Tauranga, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,967 miles (or 11,213 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 Tauranga 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 Tauranga 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• Camp Lewis advocates pushed for it to be a major dirigible and fixed-wing field.
• Reactivated following service in Vietnam, the 9th Infantry Division aviation units occupied GAAF in 1972.
• 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 91st Observation Squadron and aircraft of the 3rd Balloon Squadron operated out of the Fort Lewis airfield.
• GAAF units have served in Iraq with Company A, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, returning from a 15 month deployment on April 17, 2004.
• In addition to being known as "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Tauranga Airport (TRG):

• In 2010 the airport started an expansion of the terminal that took 6 months.
• Tauranga Airport (TRG) has 4 runways.
• The furthest airport from Tauranga Airport (TRG) is Granada Airport (GRX), which is nearly antipodal to Tauranga Airport (meaning Tauranga Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Granada Airport), and is located 12,403 miles (19,961 kilometers) away in Granada, Spain.
• Tauranga Airport is the current location for the Sportavex biennial fly-in and airshow.
• Because of Tauranga Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Tauranga 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.
• Because of the intensive growth of the Tauranga region, the airport has now been hemmed in by residential and industrial development.
• The closest airport to Tauranga Airport (TRG) is Matamata Airport (MTA), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) W of TRG.
• Scheduled flights are operated by Eagle Airways, Air Nelson and Mount Cook Airlines divisions of Air New Zealand, using Raytheon Beechcraft 1900D, De Havilland Dash 8 Q-300 and ATR-72 aircraft respectively.