Nonstop flight route between Heraklion, Crete, Greece and Christchurch, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER), Heraklion, Crete, Greece and Christchurch International Airport (CHC), Christchurch, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,619 miles (or 17,089 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 Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” and Christchurch 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 Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” and Christchurch 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 Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER):

• Annual passenger throughput - 11 year history
• The furthest airport from Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,521 miles (18,541 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• In addition to being known as "Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis”", another name for HER is "Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Ηρακλείου “Νίκος Καζαντζάκης”".
• Because of Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis”'s relatively low elevation of 115 feet, planes can take off or land at Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” 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.
• Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER) is Sitia Airport (JSH), which is located 53 miles (85 kilometers) E of HER.
• It is often requested by airlines that passengers do not take any photographs or video of the runway.
• In 1947, the first terminal was erected.

Facts about Christchurch International Airport (CHC):

• With the development of Antarctic scientific expeditions, since the 1950s Christchurch Airport has been the base for all Antarctic flights operated by the United States Navy, United States Air Force, Air National Guard and Royal New Zealand Air Force as part of Operation Deep Freeze.
• Because of Christchurch International Airport's relatively low elevation of 123 feet, planes can take off or land at Christchurch 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.
• As the gateway for Christchurch and the South Island, Christchurch International Airport is New Zealand’s second largest airport.
• There are several general aviation organisations operating from the airport.
• Christchurch International Airport (CHC) has 3 runways.
• Christchurch International Airport handled 556,096 passengers last year.
• Runway 11/29 will be widened and extended 244m west into the nearby golf course and a RESA will be added to each end to make it comply with ICAO standards.
• The furthest airport from Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Christchurch International Airport (meaning Christchurch International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,389 miles (19,939 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• In May 2013 the airport began kicking out travellers who tried to sleep at the airport overnight, saying they should find proper accommodation, but backed down after neighbours complained people were sleeping rough outdoors.The airport has direct flights to 18 domestic and 11 international destinations.
• The closest airport to Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is Ashburton Aerodrome (ASG), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) SW of CHC.