Nonstop flight route between Invercargill, New Zealand and Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Invercargill Airport (IVC), Invercargill, New Zealand and Kobe Airport (UKB), Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,966 miles (or 9,602 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 Kobe 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 Kobe 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.
• The closest airport to Invercargill Airport (IVC) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) SSW of IVC.
• 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.
• 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.
• Invercargill Airport handled 27,092 passengers last year.
• Invercargill Airport (IVC) has 4 runways.
• 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 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.
• When the Government nationalized all airlines to create NAC in 1947, the Electra service was replaced by de Havilland DH.89s.

Facts about Kobe Airport (UKB):

• Kobe businesses were still interested in the plan, however, and pressed the city government to propose a smaller facility with one 3,000 m runway.
• In addition to being known as "Kobe Airport", other names for UKB include "神戸空港" and "Kōbe Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Kobe Airport (UKB) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,976 miles (19,273 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Kobe Airport (UKB) is Kansai International Airport (KIX), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) S of UKB.
• The airport finally opened on February 16, 2006, with Japan Airlines operating the first flight and All Nippon Airways operating the first scheduled flight.
• Because of Kobe Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Kobe 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.
• Kobe is already the most indebted municipality in Japan with debts of over ¥3 trillion, and this project's cost has made it very controversial.
• Kobe Airport (UKB) currently has only 1 runway.