Nonstop flight route between Minot, North Dakota, United States and Invercargill, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Minot Air Force Base (MIB), Minot, North Dakota, United States and Invercargill Airport (IVC), Invercargill, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,497 miles (or 13,675 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 Minot Air Force Base and Invercargill 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 Minot Air Force Base and Invercargill 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 Minot Air Force Base (MIB):

• On 2 July 1969 the 862d Medical Group was renamed the USAF Hospital.
• The 91st Operations Group is the operational backbone of the 91st Missile Wing, with its mission to defend the United States with safe and secure Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles – ready to immediately put bombs on target.
• On 1 February 1963, SAC, as part of a conversion to unit designations with historical significance, activated the 450th Bombardment Wing at Minot and the 720th Bombardment Squadron, along with the formation of the 450th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron, 450th Armament & Electronics Maintenance Squadron, 450th Field Maintenance Squadron, and the 450th Organizational Maintenance Squadron simultaneously.
• Renamed Aerospace Defense Command in 1968, ADC F-106 operations continued at Minot until ADC was deactivated in 1979 and became a part of Tactical Air Command as a subentity referred to as Tactical Air Command – Air Defense.
• In addition to being known as "Minot Air Force Base", another name for MIB is "Minot AFB".
• The furthest airport from Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,320 miles (16,609 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Following the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-81, SAC tasked the former 57th Air Division to organize the Strategic Projection Force.
• The closest airport to Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Minot International Airport (MOT), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) SSE of MIB.

Facts about Invercargill Airport (IVC):

• Invercargill Airport handled 27,092 passengers last year.
• Invercargill Airport has had aspirations from the 1980s through to the 2000s as an international destination with proposals that have failed to get off the ground with nearby Queenstown being developed as a more direct route for jet aircraft.
• Invercargill does not have the appropriate border control measures.
• The closest airport to Invercargill Airport (IVC) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) SSW of IVC.
• 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 airport's first scheduled service was in 1944 by Union Airways' Lockheed 10 Electra flying from Dunedin.
• 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.
• Regular jet services operated into the airport until 1995, when Air New Zealand restructured all its secondary provincial routes after subsidiary Mount Cook Airline introduced the 68 seat ATR 72-200 into service.
• 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.