Nonstop flight route between Invercargill, New Zealand and Hotan, Xinjiang, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Invercargill Airport (IVC), Invercargill, New Zealand and Hotan Airport (HTN), Hotan, Xinjiang, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,940 miles (or 12,779 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 Hotan 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 Invercargill Airport and Hotan 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 Invercargill Airport (IVC):

• Air New Zealand is the major carrier operating from the airport.
• Although only ever a backup airport during World War II, military operations have remained rare due to Christchurch being chosen as the main Operation Deep Freeze Base in 1949 and what was then Dunedin's Taieri Aerodrome acting as a departure point for shorter range aircraft heading south.
• The closest airport to Invercargill Airport (IVC) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) SSW of 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.
• When the Government nationalized all airlines to create NAC in 1947, the Electra service was replaced by de Havilland DH.89s.
• 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.
• 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 handled 27,092 passengers last year.
• Today the airport is visited by aircraft of the United States ANG, Australian RAAF, Italy's Aeronautica Militare and RNZAF as part of Antarctic flight diversion training.
• In 2013, the airport announced a new terminal building will be constructed and will cost $13.3 million, with construction funded by Invercargill City Holdings Ltd.
• Invercargill Airport (IVC) has 4 runways.

Facts about Hotan Airport (HTN):

• The furthest airport from Hotan Airport (HTN) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,566 miles (18,613 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Hotan Airport", other names for HTN include "和田机场" and "Hétián Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Hotan Airport (HTN) is Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL), which is located 239 miles (385 kilometers) SSW of HTN.
• Hotan Airport (HTN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Hotan Airport's high elevation of 4,672 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HTN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HTN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.