Nonstop flight route between Helena / West Helena, Arkansas, United States and Wellington, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thompson-Robbins AirportThompson-Robbins Army Airfield (HEE), Helena / West Helena, Arkansas, United States and Wellington International Airport (WLG), Wellington, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,949 miles (or 12,793 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 Thompson-Robbins AirportThompson-Robbins Army Airfield and Wellington 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 Thompson-Robbins AirportThompson-Robbins Army Airfield and Wellington 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 Thompson-Robbins AirportThompson-Robbins Army Airfield (HEE):

• The closest airport to Thompson-Robbins AirportThompson-Robbins Army Airfield (HEE) is Tunica Municipal Airport (UTM), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ENE of HEE.
• The airport was established in 1941 by the United States Army Air Forces and is known as Thompson-Robbins Field.
• The furthest airport from Thompson-Robbins AirportThompson-Robbins Army Airfield (HEE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,968 miles (17,651 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Thompson-Robbins AirportThompson-Robbins Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 242 feet, planes can take off or land at Thompson-Robbins AirportThompson-Robbins 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.
• Thompson-Robbins AirportThompson-Robbins Army Airfield (HEE) has 2 runways.
• Airline flights ended in 1959.
• The airfield was operated under contract to USAAF by Aero-Tech providing basic flight instruction to aviation cadets.

Facts about Wellington International Airport (WLG):

• Because of Wellington International Airport's relatively low elevation of 42 feet, planes can take off or land at Wellington 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.
• The closest airport to Wellington International Airport (WLG) is Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) NNE of WLG.
• As recently as 1992, several alternate sites for Wellington Airport were considered – Te Horo, Paraparaumu, Mana Island, Ohariu Valley, Horokiwi, Wairarapa and Pencarrow – but a decision was made to upgrade the existing site at Rongotai.
• Because of the runway limitations, Qantas purchased two short-bodied "Special Performance" 747SP for flights between Wellington and Australia during the first half of the 1980s.
• In April 2006, Air New Zealand and Qantas announced that they proposed to enter into a codeshare agreement, arguing that it would be necessary in order to reduce empty seats and financial losses on trans-Tasman routes.
• The furthest airport from Wellington International Airport (WLG) is Salamanca-Matacán Airport (SLM), which is nearly antipodal to Wellington International Airport (meaning Wellington International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salamanca-Matacán Airport), and is located 12,406 miles (19,966 kilometers) away in Salamanca, Spain.
• At 2,081 metres, Wellington's runway is shorter than some New Zealand domestic airport runways.
• Wellington International Airport (WLG) currently has only 1 runway.
• Wellington is the third busiest airport in New Zealand handling a total of 5,373,622 passengers in the year ending 31 March 2013.