Nonstop flight route between Nelson, New Zealand and Madrid, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN), Nelson, New Zealand and Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), Madrid, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,259 miles (or 19,729 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 Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1], 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 Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between NSN and MAD makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū and Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] 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 NSN and MAD are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Nelson, New Zealand and Madrid, 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 NSN and MAD!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN):

• On 17 September 2013, the idea for a potential Auckland, Nelson and Queenstown air link was raised with Air New Zealand's chief executive.
• 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.
• 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 handled 776,448 passengers last year.
• Construction of Nelson Airport commenced in 1937.
• 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.
• The airport has a single terminal building with 9 tarmac gates.
• Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN) has 4 runways.

Facts about Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD):

• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) has 4 runways.
• In the 1970s, with the boom in tourism and the arrival of the Boeing 747, the airport reached 4 million passengers, and began the construction of the international terminal.
• The closest airport to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) is Madrid–Torrejón Airport (TOJ), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) ENE of MAD.
• In addition to being known as "Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]", another name for MAD is "Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas".
• The furthest airport from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD) is Palmerston North Airport (PMR), which is nearly antipodal to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (meaning Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Palmerston North Airport), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] handled 39,729,027 passengers last year.
• Originally, the flight field was a large circle bordered in white with the name of Madrid in its interior, unpaved, consisting of land covered with natural grass.
• Following the death of former Spanish Prime Minister, Adolfo Suárez, the Spanish Ministerio de Fomento has announced that the airport is to be renamed to Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez, Madrid–Barajas.
• The 1982 FIFA World Cup brought significant expansion and modernisation of the airport's two existing terminals.
• Barajas was voted "Best Airport" in the 2008 Condé Nast Traveller Reader Awards.