Nonstop flight route between Kaikoura, New Zealand and Shannon (County Clare), Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ), Kaikoura, New Zealand and Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,717 miles (or 18,857 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 Shannon 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 Shannon 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):

• 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.
• The closest airport to Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ) is Woodbourne Airport (BHE), which is located 64 miles (103 kilometers) NNE of KBZ.
• Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ) has 2 runways.
• 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 aerodrome is operated by Kaikoura District Council and is available for general use without the permission of the operator.

Facts about Shannon Airport (SNN):

• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1958, the Irish airline Aer Lingus began transatlantic service to the United States, using Lockheed Super Constellations for thrice-weekly service to New York City and Boston.
• The furthest airport from Shannon Airport (SNN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Shannon Airport (meaning Shannon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,015 miles (19,336 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The last quarter of 2012 saw a resurgence for Shannon, with new services announced for Philadelphia and Chicago, a return of Aer Lingus to JFK and Boston, and Delta to JFK, giving Shannon direct services to five US airports for 2013.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• US Airways operated daily services to Philadelphia until 2008 using Boeing 757-200 aircraft.
• The number of international carriers rose sharply in succeeding years as Shannon became well known as the gateway between Europe and the Americas.
• Because of Shannon Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Shannon 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 1936, the Government of Ireland confirmed that it would develop a 3.1 km2 site at Rineanna for the country's first transatlantic airport.
• Shannon holds an important place in Ireland's aviation history as it was the first transatlantic gateway between Ireland and the US, and the birthplace of Duty-free shopping and of aviation leasing.