Nonstop flight route between Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Mataiva, French Polynesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Mataiva Airport (MVT), Mataiva, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,357 miles (or 15,058 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 RAF Northolt and Mataiva 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 RAF Northolt and Mataiva 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 RAF Northolt (NHT):

• In 1943, the station became the first to fly sorties using Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXs in German airspace in support of bomber operations.
• Civil flights ceased when the central area at Heathrow opened in 1954 with Northolt reverting to sole military use in May that year.
• The furthest airport from RAF Northolt (NHT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.
• Starting in 1946 the airfield was used by civil aviation during the construction of nearby Heathrow Airport.
• Attention was high again in 2001 when Ronnie Biggs, the seriously ill, fugitive Great Train Robber, was flown from Brazil to the airfield to be arrested by waiting police officers.
• During the construction of Heathrow Airport, Northolt was used for commercial civil flights, becoming the busiest airport in Europe for a time and a major base for British European Airways.
• Four Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft arrived at the station from RAF Coningsby on 2 May 2012 to take part in a security exercise as part of preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
• After the Battle of Britain, the station remained a base for daytime fighter operations, with No.

Facts about Mataiva Airport (MVT):

• The furthest airport from Mataiva Airport (MVT) is Khartoum International Airport (KRT), which is nearly antipodal to Mataiva Airport (meaning Mataiva Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Khartoum International Airport), and is located 12,339 miles (19,858 kilometers) away in Khartoum, Sudan.
• Because of Mataiva Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Mataiva 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.
• The closest airport to Mataiva Airport (MVT) is Arutua Airport (AXR), which is located 142 miles (228 kilometers) E of MVT.