Nonstop flight route between Invercargill, New Zealand and Tampa, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Invercargill Airport (IVC), Invercargill, New Zealand and MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,470 miles (or 13,630 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 MacDill 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 MacDill 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• In 2005, the runway was extended to 2,210 m at a cost of NZ$5 million, as of 2012 it is the third longest civilian runway in New Zealand, capable of handling aircraft of Boeing 737/Airbus A320 type sized aircraft.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Invercargill Airport (IVC) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) SSW of IVC.
• Invercargill Airport handled 27,092 passengers last year.
• 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 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• In addition to the antisubmarine mission, another prewar mission of MacDill was "Project X" the ferrying of combat aircraft eastward to the Philippines via ferrying routes set up by Ferrying Command over South Atlantic Ocean and Central Africa.
• MacDill has a total of 38 tenant units according to the official MacDill website."MacDill Air Force Base Units".
• The closest airport to MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of MCF.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• MacDill Air Force Base is an active United States Air Force base located approximately 4 miles south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
• In February 1945, the 323d Combat Crew Training Wing was established at the base with a mission of training B-29 Superfortress aircrews.
• The furthest airport from MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• MacDill AFB was established in 1939 as Southeast Air Base, Tampa.