Nonstop flight route between Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,062 miles (or 12,974 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Kapiti Coast 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Kapiti Coast 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE):

• The furthest airport from St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,426 miles (18,388 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The airport includes a 24-hour airport rescue and fire-fighting department, facilities, operations, engineering, security, and administrative personnel.
• St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) has 4 runways.
• Construction of the airport at its present site started in March 1941.
• Also, the airport recently completed a US$22 million renovation, including, among other things, expanding the gate sizes, new plumbing, and building loading bridges, as the current system requires all passengers to walk across the tarmac to the gate.
• The closest airport to St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Clearwater Air Park (CLW), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NW of PIE.
• The airport is home of Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, the largest and busiest U.S.
• Because of St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Pete–Clearwater 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.

Facts about Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ):

• The closest airport to Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) is Wellington International Airport (WLG), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) SSW of PPQ.
• Constructed by the Royal New Zealand Air Force in July 1939 using equipment from Whenuapai, Paraparaumu was made available as an "Emergency Airport" by the government.
• On 6 November 1970, Douglas C-47B ZK-AXS of the Ministry of Transport was damaged beyond economic repair during a downwind simulated takeoff, when the undercarriage collapsed.
• This re-development was spurred by interest from Air New Zealand to operate Q300 aircraft.
• Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) has 3 runways.
• Interest in providing commercial flights at Paraparaumu reignited because the Kapiti coast is one of New Zealand's fastest growing regional centres.
• Originally government-owned, the Kapiti Coast Airport was the greater Wellington region's main airport until Wellington International Airport re-opened in 1959.
• As recently as 1992, alternate sites for a new airport for Wellington were investigated, including Paraparaumu, but a decision was made to upgrade Wellington Airport's existing site.
• Because of Kapiti Coast Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Kapiti Coast 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 furthest airport from Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) is Salamanca-Matacán Airport (SLM), which is nearly antipodal to Kapiti Coast Airport (meaning Kapiti Coast Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salamanca-Matacán Airport), and is located 12,411 miles (19,973 kilometers) away in Salamanca, Spain.