Nonstop flight route between Hamilton, New Zealand and Porto, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hamilton International Airport (HLZ), Hamilton, New Zealand and Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO), Porto, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,121 miles (or 19,507 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 Hamilton International Airport and Francisco Sá Carneiro 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 Hamilton International Airport and Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between HLZ and OPO makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Hamilton International Airport and Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport would be very impractical for the airlines, because only a lightly loaded Boeing 777-200LR would be able to make the trip. Since airlines need to be able to take as many people and cargo as possible in order to make a profit, the odds of ever seeing a nonstop flight between HLZ and OPO are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Hamilton, New Zealand and Porto, Portugal by taking some connecting flights!

Did you know that one full circling of the Earth (measuring from the equator) is about 24,901.5 miles (or 40,075 kilometers), which means if you were 12,450 miles from any given point on the planet, the distance back to your starting point would be about the same -- in any direction! The same can be said for a nonstop flight between HLZ and OPO!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Hamilton International Airport (HLZ):

• The Waikato Aero Club has been based at Hamilton Airport since 1933.
• Travel by air began to blossom soon after the war was over, and, in 1950, the airport received its first commercial flight.
• As the world prepared for war, it became clear that a landing strip needed to be constructed in the Hamilton area.
• Hugh McCarroll was the airport's chief executive from the early 2000s until retirement in February 2006.
• Because of Hamilton International Airport's relatively low elevation of 172 feet, planes can take off or land at Hamilton 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.
• In August 2011, approval was received by Hamilton International Airport to extend its runway up to 3,000 metres - the same size as secondary airports in other parts of the world, such as the Gold Coast.
• Hamilton International Airport (HLZ) has 4 runways.
• A NZ$15.3 million terminal expansion begun in 2005 featured a 60 percent increase in floorspace with improved baggage handling areas, better international and domestic check-in space, and passenger security screening.
• The furthest airport from Hamilton International Airport (HLZ) is Córdoba Airport (ODB), which is nearly antipodal to Hamilton International Airport (meaning Hamilton International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Córdoba Airport), and is located 12,427 miles (20,000 kilometers) away in Córdoba, Spain.
• The closest airport to Hamilton International Airport (HLZ) is Matamata Airport (MTA), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) ENE of HLZ.

Facts about Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO):

• The furthest airport from Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) is Westport Airport (WSZ), which is nearly antipodal to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (meaning Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Westport Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,955 kilometers) away in Westport, New Zealand.
• On 25 February 2008, Airports Council International announced that according to its 2007 Airport Service Quality Survey, Porto placed first overall in Europe for service and placed fourth among airports worldwide having fewer than 5 million passengers.
• Because of Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport's relatively low elevation of 226 feet, planes can take off or land at Francisco Sá Carneiro 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 Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) is Braga Airport (BGZ), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NNE of OPO.
• STCP buses also link the airport and the city.
• Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport handled 6,050,094 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport", another name for OPO is "Aeroporto Francisco Sá Carneiro".
• Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) currently has only 1 runway.