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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom and Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT), Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,548 miles (or 15,367 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 Fa'a'ā International 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 Fa'a'ā International 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 January 2012, it was reported that the future of station was under review by the Ministry of Defence as part of efforts to reduce defence spending.
• Northolt became an active base during the Second World War for Royal Air Force and Polish Air Force squadrons in their defence of the United Kingdom.
• 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.

Facts about Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT):

• Air Tahiti has its head office at the airport.
• Because of Fa'a'ā International Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Fa'a'ā International 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.
• Fa'a'ā International Airport is relatively small.
• Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT) is El Debba Airport (EDB), which is nearly antipodal to Fa'a'ā International Airport (meaning Fa'a'ā International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from El Debba Airport), and is located 12,387 miles (19,935 kilometers) away in El Debba (Al Dabbah), Sudan.
• Many buses come into the airport from Pape'ete, the main bus being the Fa'a'ā airport shuttle which goes along Tahiti's west coast freeway, which passes in front of the main terminal.
• In addition to being known as "Fa'a'ā International Airport", another name for PPT is "Aéroport International Tahiti Fa'a'ā".
• The closest airport to Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT) is Moorea Airport (MOZ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) WNW of PPT.