Nonstop flight route between Merced, California, United States and Napier, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Merced Regional Airport (MCE), Merced, California, United States and Hawke's Bay Airport (NPE), Napier, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,625 miles (or 10,662 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 Merced Regional Airport and Hawke's Bay 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 Merced Regional Airport and Hawke's Bay 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 Merced Regional Airport (MCE):

• The furthest airport from Merced Regional Airport (MCE) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,314 miles (18,209 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• During the 1950s the airport was used to service United States Armed Forces aircraft, and a land acquisition in February 1955 allowed runway 12/30 to be extended.
• The closest airport to Merced Regional Airport (MCE) is Castle Airport (MER), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) NNW of MCE.
• Because of Merced Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 155 feet, planes can take off or land at Merced Regional 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.
• Between 1957 and 2007, Merced Regional Airport hosted the annual Merced West Coast Antique Fly-In.
• Merced Regional Airport (MCE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Merced Regional Airport", another name for MCE is "MacReady Field".
• The airport had 3,724 passenger boardings in 2012, an increase of 17% from the previous calendar year.
• United's DC-3s were replaced by Convair 340s and Douglas DC-6s, and eventually by Boeing 737-200 jetliners in 1968-69.
• The airport was formerly served by Air Pacific, American Eagle, Golden Gate Airlines, United Airlines, United Express and US Airways Express.

Facts about Hawke's Bay Airport (NPE):

• The closest airport to Hawke's Bay Airport (NPE) is Taupo AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Taupō (TUO), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) NW of NPE.
• Because of Hawke's Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Hawke's Bay 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.
• Hawke's Bay Airport (NPE) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Hawke's Bay Airport (NPE) is Ciudad Real Central Airport (CQM), which is nearly antipodal to Hawke's Bay Airport (meaning Hawke's Bay Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ciudad Real Central Airport), and is located 12,375 miles (19,916 kilometers) away in Ciudad Real, Spain.
• Hawke's Bay Airport Terminal is a modern well-equipped building, featuring three check-in counters for Air New Zealand and a check-in counter for Sun Air, together with a cafe, seating area and rental car counters.
• 18 May 2010 a Piper Aztec aircraft made a crash landing at Hawke's Bay Airport during a night flight.
• Hawke's Bay Airport handled 451,128 passengers last year.
• Hawke's Bay Airport is a busy regional airport with frequent flights to and from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch on Air New Zealand Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 & ATR 72-500 turbo prop aircraft.
• In November 2013 - Hawkes Bay Airport announced advanced planning to further lengthen its main runway from 1750m to 1940m no later than 2018 and a significant terminal expansion and redevelopment to cope with significantly higher than projected annual increases in passengers numbers through the airport.