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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Invercargill Airport (IVC), Invercargill, New Zealand and Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,042 miles (or 12,942 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 Invercargill 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 Invercargill 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 Invercargill Airport (IVC):

• Because of Invercargill Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Invercargill 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 Invercargill Airport (IVC) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Invercargill Airport (meaning Invercargill Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,168 miles (19,582 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• Invercargill Airport has had aspirations from the 1980s through to the 2000s as an international destination with proposals that have failed to get off the ground with nearby Queenstown being developed as a more direct route for jet aircraft.
• The closest airport to Invercargill Airport (IVC) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) SSW of IVC.
• Since July 2012, Air New Zealand has used Invercargill as a technical stop when conditions in Queenstown restrict aircraft from taking off with sufficient fuel to fly direct to Australia due to weather or operational reasons.
• Regular jet services operated into the airport until 1995, when Air New Zealand restructured all its secondary provincial routes after subsidiary Mount Cook Airline introduced the 68 seat ATR 72-200 into service.
• Today's airport is located on what was a tidal estuary lake.
• Invercargill Airport (IVC) has 4 runways.
• Invercargill Airport handled 27,092 passengers last year.

Facts about Eielson Air Force Base (EIL):

• For the next 34 years, the 5010th served as host-unit at Eielson.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• In July 1960, the Strategic Air Command stationed the 4157th Combat Support Group at Eielson.
• Eielson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska and just southeast of Moose Creek, Alaska.
• In addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".