Nonstop flight route between Masterton, New Zealand and Bilbao, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hood Aerodrome (MRO), Masterton, New Zealand and Bilbao Airport (BIO), Bilbao, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,260 miles (or 19,730 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 Hood Aerodrome and Bilbao 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 Hood Aerodrome and Bilbao Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between MRO and BIO makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Hood Aerodrome and Bilbao Airport would be very impractical for the airlines, because only a lightly loaded Boeing 777-200LR would be able to make the trip. Since airlines need to be able to take as many people and cargo as possible in order to make a profit, the odds of ever seeing a nonstop flight between MRO and BIO are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Masterton, New Zealand and Bilbao, Spain by taking some connecting flights!

Did you know that one full circling of the Earth (measuring from the equator) is about 24,901.5 miles (or 40,075 kilometers), which means if you were 12,450 miles from any given point on the planet, the distance back to your starting point would be about the same -- in any direction! The same can be said for a nonstop flight between MRO and BIO!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Hood Aerodrome (MRO):

• Because of Hood Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 364 feet, planes can take off or land at Hood 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.
• Hood Aerodrome (MRO) has 4 runways.
• The furthest airport from Hood Aerodrome (MRO) is Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), which is nearly antipodal to Hood Aerodrome (meaning Hood Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]), and is located 12,382 miles (19,927 kilometers) away in Madrid, Spain.
• The aerodrome is also been used as a dragstrip for over ten years and there are plans to build a purpose built dragstrip.
• The closest airport to Hood Aerodrome (MRO) is Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) W of MRO.
• The aerodrome is the home of New Zealand's 'Sports and Vintage Aviation Society', which has had a hangar on site since 1978.
• Historically, Hood Aerodrome has been served by South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand in 1962–1966 and two locally-based carriers, Wairarapa Airlines which linked Masterton with Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Nelson and Christchurch from August 1981 to January 1997.

Facts about Bilbao Airport (BIO):

• With the past increase of traffic, the terminal would have become saturated again in a year because it is designed to handle about 4.5 million passengers per year, in 2007 it went nearly to its maximum capacity.
• Because of Bilbao Airport's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Bilbao 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 addition to being known as "Bilbao Airport", another name for BIO is "Bilboko aireportua (eu) Aeropuerto de Bilbao (es)".
• Bilbao Airport (BIO) has 2 runways.
• In 1996, a new taxiway with two rapid exits and a new aircraft parking apron were built.
• Bilbao Airport is a public airport located 9 km north of Bilbao, in the municipality of Loiu, in Biscay.
• The furthest airport from Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is nearly antipodal to Bilbao Airport (meaning Bilbao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hood Aerodrome), and is located 12,260 miles (19,730 kilometers) away in Masterton, New Zealand.
• Bilbao Airport handled 3,800,789 passengers last year.
• The airport has seen a constant increase in its traffic numbers, the old terminal was already saturated and obsolete in 1990, although it had been renewed only a few years earlier.
• The closest airport to Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) SSE of BIO.
• During the eighties, the ILS landing system entered into service for runway 10/28.