Nonstop flight route between Hokitika, New Zealand and Fairbanks, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hokitika Airport (HKK), Hokitika, New Zealand and Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,758 miles (or 12,485 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 Hokitika Airport and Eielson Air Force Base, 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 Hokitika Airport and Eielson Air Force Base. 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 Hokitika Airport (HKK):

• The grass surfaces and susceptibility to flooding of Hokitika’s Southside airfield were always problematic.
• Hokitika Airport (HKK) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Hokitika Airport (HKK) is Greymouth Airport (GMN), which is located 20 miles (33 kilometers) NNE of HKK.
• Because of Hokitika Airport's relatively low elevation of 146 feet, planes can take off or land at Hokitika 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 furthest airport from Hokitika Airport (HKK) is Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ), which is nearly antipodal to Hokitika Airport (meaning Hokitika Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santiago de Compostela Airport), and is located 12,404 miles (19,962 kilometers) away in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Facts about Eielson Air Force Base (EIL):

• On 7 June 1943, the Western Defense Command ordered construction of a new airfield near present-day Fort Wainwright, then an Army airfield named after Major Arthur Ladd.
• The 58th Weather Squadron remained at Eielson until 8 August 1958.
• The furthest airport from Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,295 miles (16,568 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Within the first year of its arrival the 354 FW hosted an Arctic combat search and rescue exercise between the United States, Canada, and Russia.
• The closest airport to Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of EIL.
• In addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".
• The base reopened in September 1946, once again as a satellite of Ladd Field.
• The Cold War seen the use of Eielson's expansive reservation as a maneuver area for the U.S.