Nonstop flight route between Invercargill, New Zealand and Kirkenes, Finnmark, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Invercargill Airport (IVC), Invercargill, New Zealand and Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN), Kirkenes, Finnmark, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,303 miles (or 16,580 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 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 Invercargill Airport 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 Invercargill Airport (IVC):

• The runway was lengthened periodically over the years to cater for larger aircraft in time, such as NAC Fokker F27s, NAC Vickers Viscount, culminating with NAC's Boeing 737-200 type in 1975.
• Invercargill Airport handled 27,092 passengers last year.
• 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.
• 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 largest aircraft to land at Invercargill is the Boeing C-17 Globemaster, although the runway has been "buzzed" by USAF KC-10 Extenders, Lockheed C-141 Starlifters and C-5 Galaxy.
• Invercargill Airport (IVC) has 4 runways.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to Invercargill Airport (IVC) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) SSW of IVC.

Facts about Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN):

• The runway was extended eastwards by 290 meters in the late 1990s.
• Three airlines serve the airport with scheduled flights.
• The route had doubled its patronage since its introduction by 1953—the last year it was operated by DNL.
• Avinor has also proposed lowering the terrain east of the airport.
• Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen handled 297,149 passengers last year.
• Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN) is Vadsø Airport (VDS), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) N of KKN.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen", another name for KKN is "Kirkenes lufthavn, Høybuktmoen".
• Finnair terminated their services to Kirkenes in 1975.
• Høybuktmoen was selected by the Luftwaffe as one of three air stations in Northern Norway, along with Bardufoss Airport and Lakselv Airport, Banak.