Nonstop flight route between Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO), Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,498 miles (or 13,677 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 Piedmont Triad International Airport and Kapiti Coast 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 Piedmont Triad International Airport and Kapiti Coast 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 Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO):

• Delta Connection carrier Comair built a maintenance hangar at PTI to perform work on their CRJ's in 2005, bringing nearly 60 mechanics to Greensboro.
• Also in the mid-1990s, start-up carrier Eastwind Airlines began serving PTI.
• Independence Air began service into Greensboro when the airline started up with service to Washington Dulles International Airport.
• A third runway was built to accommodate the hub operation, parallel to one of the existing ones.
• The furthest airport from Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,574 miles (18,626 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) is Smith Reynolds Airport (INT), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) W of GSO.
• Pitcairn Aviation, Incorporated was given the contract to fly the airmail route, the second official airmail route in the United States, and Pitcairn Aviation made the first delivery of airmail in North Carolina on May 1, 1928.
• Because of Piedmont Triad International Airport's relatively low elevation of 926 feet, planes can take off or land at Piedmont Triad 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.
• Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) has 3 runways.
• The airport was renamed Greensboro-High Point Airport and later Greensboro – High Point – Winston-Salem Regional Airport.

Facts about Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ):

• As recently as 1992, alternate sites for a new airport for Wellington were investigated, including Paraparaumu, but a decision was made to upgrade Wellington Airport's existing site.
• Re-development proposals involve closing 11/29, with a parallel grass runway as the only crosswind runway.
• Constructed by the Royal New Zealand Air Force in July 1939 using equipment from Whenuapai, Paraparaumu was made available as an "Emergency Airport" by the government.
• Paraparaumu was judged unsuitable for international operations in the 1950s due to Kapiti Island to the near west and the Tararua Ranges barely a mile east infringing the take-off and landing flightpaths.
• The original runway dimensions were 1350 m x 45 m with an 85 m starter extension available on runway 16, nearly touching Kapiti Road, which runs past the aerodrome.
• Because of Kapiti Coast Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Kapiti Coast 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.
• This re-development was spurred by interest from Air New Zealand to operate Q300 aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) is Salamanca-Matacán Airport (SLM), which is nearly antipodal to Kapiti Coast Airport (meaning Kapiti Coast Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salamanca-Matacán Airport), and is located 12,411 miles (19,973 kilometers) away in Salamanca, Spain.
• Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) is Wellington International Airport (WLG), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) SSW of PPQ.
• On 17 February 2008, above an adjacent hardware store, Placemakers, there was a triple-fatality mid-air collision between a Cessna 152 and a helicopter, both of which plummeted from approximately 1500 ft, the helicopter into the store and the plane into a nearby street.