Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Queenstown, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and Queenstown Airport (ZQN), Queenstown, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,774 miles (or 18,949 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 Gatwick Airport and Queenstown 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 Gatwick Airport and Queenstown 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 Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• The first scheduled flight departed from the Beehive terminal on 17 May 1936, bound for Paris.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• The London and Brighton Railway opened on 21 September 1841, and ran near Gatwick Manor.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• On 27 May 1958, the original Gatwick railway station reopened as the Gatwick Airport station, and the Tinsley Green station was closed.
• In November 1972, Laker Airways became the first operator of wide-body aircraft at Gatwick after the introduction of two McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• BAA Limited and its predecessors, BAA plc and the British Airports Authority, owned and operated Gatwick from 1 April 1966 to 2 December 2009.
• On 1 April 1961, BEA began operating half its London–Paris flights from Gatwick.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick 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.

Facts about Queenstown Airport (ZQN):

• Queenstown Airport (ZQN) has 2 runways.
• In another separate incident in June 2010 two airliners were found to have had a high potential to have breached the 1000 foot vertical separation required.
• Queenstown Airport is located in Frankton, Otago, New Zealand, and serves the resort town of Queenstown.The airport is 8 km by road from the CBD.
• In July 2011 newly installed runway lights were turned on for the first time.
• The closest airport to Queenstown Airport (ZQN) is Wanaka Airport (WKA), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) NE of ZQN.
• A regular scenic route between Queenstown and Milford Sound was first established by Southern Scenic Air Services Ltd in August 1951.
• The furthest airport from Queenstown Airport (ZQN) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Queenstown Airport (meaning Queenstown Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,251 miles (19,716 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.