Nonstop flight route between Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States and Whangarei, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR), Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States and Whangarei Airport (WRE), Whangarei, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,434 miles (or 13,573 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 Kincheloe Air Force Base and Whangarei 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 Kincheloe Air Force Base and Whangarei 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 Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR):

• The closest airport to Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR) is Chippewa County International Airport (CIU), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of INR.
• On 1 Oct 1968, the 449th became the host unit assigned to Kincheloe AFB with the inactivations of the 507th Fighter Wing and the activations & Organizations of the 449th Combat Support Group, the 449th Civil Engineering Squadron, 449th Security Police Squadron, 449th Services Squadron, 449th Supply Squadron, and the 449th Transportation Squadron.
• On 16 February 1953, the first operational ADC unit, the 534th Air Defense Group was activated at Kinross AFB.
• Next, Kincheloe AFB was assigned to the Sault Sainte Marie Air Defense Sector at K.
• The furthest airport from Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,103 miles (17,869 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In November, 1961, following two years of construction, the 4239th Strategic Wing of the Strategic Air Command arrived with B-52 bombers.
• Flying out of Kinross in 1953, pilot Felix Moncla and his plane disappeared while pursuing a UFO over the Soo Locks and Lake Superior.

Facts about Whangarei Airport (WRE):

• Whangarei Airport (WRE) has 2 runways.
• The change in aircraft type restored capacity to 136,656 seats available on Air New Zealand per year.
• The NAC began regular commercial flights between Whangarei and Auckland in 1947.
• The furthest airport from Whangarei Airport (WRE) is Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport (TNG), which is nearly antipodal to Whangarei Airport (meaning Whangarei Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport), and is located 12,421 miles (19,989 kilometers) away in Tangier, Morocco.
• Whangarei has several scheduled flight destinations, the furthest away being Wellington at 626 km.
• The closest airport to Whangarei Airport (WRE) is Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) WSW of WRE.
• On 22 November 2005, a PAC Fletcher top dressing plane en route to Whangarei Airport crashed 5km west of Whangarei in the Pukenui Forest due to loss of the vertical stabiliser.
• The airport has a modern air-conditioned terminal building with free wifi and a cafeteria, which services Air New Zealand's subsidiaries, Eagle Airways and Air Nelson.
• The Whangarei District Council approved an upgrade of the main runway and this was completed in April 2009.
• Because of Whangarei Airport's relatively low elevation of 133 feet, planes can take off or land at Whangarei 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 2009, airport passenger numbers were increasing steadily, with flight numbers increasing also, reaching a peak of 10 return flights to Auckland and 2 return flights to Wellington on weekdays.