Nonstop flight route between Invercargill, New Zealand and Hilo, Hawaii, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Invercargill Airport (IVC), Invercargill, New Zealand and Hilo International Airport (ITO), Hilo, Hawaii, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,110 miles (or 8,223 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 Hilo International 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 Hilo International 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):

• Invercargill Airport (IVC) has 4 runways.
• 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 does not have the appropriate border control measures.
• 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.
• 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.
• Today's airport is located on what was a tidal estuary lake.
• Invercargill Airport handled 27,092 passengers last year.
• 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.
• 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.
• When the Government nationalized all airlines to create NAC in 1947, the Electra service was replaced by de Havilland DH.89s.

Facts about Hilo International Airport (ITO):

• Sixteen months after the dedication, scheduled inter-island service began on November 11, 1929 by Inter-Island Airways, the forerunner of Hawaiian Airlines.
• Hilo International Airport (ITO) has 2 runways.
• The passenger terminal complex, including commuter facilities, is at the southern edge of Hilo International Airport and is served by an access roadway from Hawaii Belt Road at Kekūanaōʻa Avenue.
• The furthest airport from Hilo International Airport (ITO) is Maun Airport (MUB), which is nearly antipodal to Hilo International Airport (meaning Hilo International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maun Airport), and is located 12,336 miles (19,854 kilometers) away in Maun, Botswana.
• The closest airport to Hilo International Airport (ITO) is Pōhakuloa Training Area (BSF), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) W of ITO.
• In 1927 the Territory of Hawaii legislature passed Act 257, authorizing the expenditure of $25,000 for the construction of a landing strip in Hilo.
• The introduction of overseas service to General Lyman Field initially met with success.
• Because of Hilo International Airport's relatively low elevation of 38 feet, planes can take off or land at Hilo 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.
• Although designed as the second gateway into and out of Hawaiʻi, for many years Hilo had been Hawaiʻi's only major airport lacking non-stop flights to North America.
• Hilo International Airport handled 1,279,342 passengers last year.
• Other proposed noise mitigation measures include a barrier on the north side of the airport and the extension of Runway 8-26 by 1,850 feet to the east and displacing the western end of the runway by the same amount, thereby maintaining the runway's length.
• Improvements to Hilo's airfield were minimal during its first decade.