Nonstop flight route between Hamilton, New Zealand and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hamilton International Airport (HLZ), Hamilton, New Zealand and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,927 miles (or 17,586 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna, 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna. 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 Hamilton International Airport (HLZ):

• In 1989, the New Zealand government sold the airport to councils representing Hamilton city, Waikato district, Waipa district, Matamata-Piako district and Otorohonga district.
• 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.
• The airport currently accommodates many different types of aircraft, from piston-engined light aircraft to commercial turboprop aircraft such as the ATR 72.
• 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.
• The airport has a single terminal building and 6 tarmac gates.
• In 1994, the airport became a terminal for Trans Tasman air routes, with charter flights provided on Boeing 727s by Kiwi International Airlines of New Zealand which served Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
• Hamilton International Airport (HLZ) has 4 runways.
• 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.

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• According to the plan a new Sofia airport terminal was built to the east of the old terminal and a second runway was constructed alongside the existing one.
• On 19 August 2011 in the presence of Ivaylo Moskovski, minister of transport, information technology and communications, the BULATSA director general Diyan Dinev, Glavbolgarstroy AD chief executive director Pavel Kalistratov and Glavbolgarstroy AD executive director and management board member Nina Stoyanova signed the design execution and construction contract between BULATSA and Glavbolgarstroy AD for the new control tower at Sofia Airport.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• A lot of consideration has been given to the design of the layout, the functional definition of the working positions, the operations room surface area for ANS provision and meteorological observation, as well as to the requirements for visibility to the runway and the approaches and access to an open observation platform.
• The initial completion deadline for the new terminal was 15 December 2004 to a total budget of 112.2 million euro.
• The passenger terminal building is designed with a capacity of 2,000 peak hour passengers or up to 2.6 million passengers a year, plus 26,000 tonnes of luggage.