Nonstop flight route between Nelson, New Zealand and Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN), Nelson, New Zealand and Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,275 miles (or 13,318 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 Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū and Patrick Air Force Base, 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 Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū and Patrick Air Force Base. 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 Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN):

• The furthest airport from Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN) is Bragança Airport (BGC), which is nearly antipodal to Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (meaning Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Bragança Airport), and is located 12,398 miles (19,953 kilometers) away in Bragança, Portugal.
• Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN) has 4 runways.
• Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū handled 776,448 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN) is Motueka Aerodrome (MZP), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) NW of NSN.
• Because of Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū 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 2014, Nelson City Council deemed the main terminal of Nelson Airport a earthquake risk and at fault of possible liquefaction.
• Construction of Nelson Airport commenced in 1937.

Facts about Patrick Air Force Base (COF):

• The host wing for Patrick AFB is the 45th Space Wing, whose officers and airmen manage all launches of unmanned rockets at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 12 miles to the north.
• Three months after World War II, on December 5, 1945, NAS Banana River had an ancillary role in the disappearance of Flight 19, a formation of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, which had departed NAS Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a routine over-water training mission.
• The furthest airport from Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,550 miles (18,587 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Merritt Island Airport (COI), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NNW of COF.
• In addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".
• In February 2005, the Patrick AFB Officers Club was destroyed by an accidental fire.