Nonstop flight route between Kaikoura, New Zealand and Chicago, Illinois, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ), Kaikoura, New Zealand and Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Chicago, Illinois, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,440 miles (or 13,583 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 Kaikoura Aerodrome and Chicago O'Hare 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 Kaikoura Aerodrome and Chicago O'Hare 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 Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ):

• Kaikoura Aerodrome is an uncontrolled aerodrome located 4 nautical miles southwest of Kaikoura on the South Island of New Zealand.
• Because of Kaikoura Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Kaikoura Aerodrome 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 Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ) is Woodbourne Airport (BHE), which is located 64 miles (103 kilometers) NNE of KBZ.
• Air Kaikoura is another scenic operator based at the aerodrome since 1983.
• The furthest airport from Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ) is León Airport (LEN), which is nearly antipodal to Kaikoura Aerodrome (meaning Kaikoura Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from León Airport), and is located 12,397 miles (19,952 kilometers) away in León, Spain.
• Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ) has 2 runways.

Facts about Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD):

• Due to the construction of Terminal 1 for United, international flights were relocated to a temporary Terminal 4 from 1984 until 1993.
• Because of Chicago O'Hare International Airport's relatively low elevation of 668 feet, planes can take off or land at Chicago O'Hare 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.
• All international arrivals at O'Hare arrive at Terminal 5, as the other terminals do not have Customs facilities.
• The furthest airport from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,071 miles (17,817 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• All fixed-wing scheduled airline service in Chicago moved from Midway to O'Hare by July 1962.
• The closest airport to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) is Chicago Executive Airport (PWK), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) N of ORD.
• Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) has 8 runways.
• Commercial passenger flights started in 1955 and by the following year O'Hare was served by American, BOAC, Braniff, Capital, Delta, Eastern, North Central, Pan Am, TWA and United, along with freight airlines Riddle and Slick.
• Douglas Company's contract ended in 1945 and though plans were proposed to build commercial aircraft, the company ultimately chose to concentrate production on the west coast.