Nonstop flight route between Nelson, New Zealand and Norfolk, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN), Nelson, New Zealand and Naval Station Norfolk (NGU), Norfolk, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,799 miles (or 14,160 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 Naval Station Norfolk, 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 Naval Station Norfolk. 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 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.
• Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū handled 776,448 passengers last year.
• Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN) has 4 runways.
• Air New Zealand operate daily up to ten flights to Auckland, thirteen flights to Wellington, Two flights to Palmerston North and seven flights to Christchurch.
• 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 airport is the home base of Air Nelson operating under the Air NZ Link banner, which operates a fleet of Bombardier Dash 8 Q300s on national air routes.

Facts about Naval Station Norfolk (NGU):

• NAS Norfolk started its roots training aviators at Naval Air Detachment, Curtiss Field, Newport News, on May 19, 1917.
• Using the same theories of Eugene Ely's flight nearly 13 years earlier, another milestone was achieved.
• The closest airport to Naval Station Norfolk (NGU) is Norfolk International Airport (ORF), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ESE of NGU.
• East Camp, with an area of about 1,000 acres between the east side of Naval Station and Granby Street, had been sold off by the Army at the end of World War I.
• Naval Station Norfolk (NGU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Naval Station Norfolk (NGU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,762 miles (18,929 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Station Norfolk", another name for NGU is "Chambers Field".
• After war was formally declared following Pearl Harbor, Germany began a U-boat offensive, "Operation Drumbeat", against shipping along the Atlantic coast.
• The last permanent structure added had been the administration building, constructed in 1930.