Nonstop flight route between Hawker, South Australia, Australia and Kirkenes, Finnmark, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wilpena Pound (HWK), Hawker, South Australia, Australia and Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN), Kirkenes, Finnmark, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,695 miles (or 13,993 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 Wilpena Pound and Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen, 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 Wilpena Pound and Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen. 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 Wilpena Pound (HWK):

• The wall of mountains almost completely encircles the gently-sloping interior of the Pound, with the only breaks being the gorge at Wilpena Gap and a high saddle in the south-western range over which the Heysen Trail passes.
• Because of Wilpena Pound's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wilpena Pound 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 Wilpena Pound (HWK) is Leigh Creek Airport (LGH), which is located 67 miles (108 kilometers) N of HWK.
• The Pound also later became part of the Flinders Ranges National Park.
• Point Bonney was named after the Crown Commissioner of Lands Charles Bonney, while Rawnsley's Bluff is named after the surveyor H.C.
• The furthest airport from Wilpena Pound (HWK) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is located 11,642 miles (18,736 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• The Pound is a very popular area for bushwalking, interesting to people of all levels of experience.
• The first European to see the distant mountains of the Pound was almost certainly Edward Eyre from the western plains on his first 1839 expedition to the vicinity of Lake Torrens.

Facts about Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN):

• Three airlines serve the airport with scheduled flights.
• Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen handled 297,149 passengers last year.
• Høybuktmoen was built as a military air station by the Luftwaffe during World War II.
• The first service after the war was started by DNL on 13 October 1945 and flew to Tromsø, with onwards connection to Trondheim and Oslo.
• SAS introduced the 52-passenger Convair Metropolitan on their domestic services, while Finnair served the airport with the 30-seat Douglas DC-3 on their flights to Finland.
• Busy Bee was contracted by the Norwegian Armed Forces to fly military charters in June 1968.
• Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN) is Vadsø Airport (VDS), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) N of KKN.
• The furthest airport from Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,424 miles (16,775 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen", another name for KKN is "Kirkenes lufthavn, Høybuktmoen".
• Service between Kirkenes and Murmansk Airport were initiated by SAS Commuter in 1990, but the airline quickly terminated the service.Aeroflot started two weekly services between Kirkenes and Murmansk and onwards to Arkhangelsk Airport in June 1990.
• Because of Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen's relatively low elevation of 282 feet, planes can take off or land at Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen 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.