Nonstop flight route between Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and Mataiva, French Polynesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and Mataiva Airport (MVT), Mataiva, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,045 miles (or 14,557 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 Glasgow-Prestwick Airport and Mataiva 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 Glasgow-Prestwick Airport and Mataiva 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 Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK):

• There had been proposed plans drawn up pre-war for the post war years which would have been classed as extremely ambitious, especially in the austere post-war years.
• In physical terms, Prestwick is Scotland's largest commercial airfield, although in passenger traffic terms it sits in fourth place after Edinburgh Airport, Glasgow International, and Aberdeen Airport.
• The closest airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Glasgow International Airport (GLA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NNE of PIK.
• Today BAE Systems retains a small facility at Prestwick for its BAE Systems Regional Aircraft division, with the adjoining main manufacturing site, producing components for Airbus and Boeing aircraft, having been sold to Spirit AeroSystems in January 2006.
• Since 2007 the airport has occasionally been used by BBC motoring TV show Top Gear as the location for various stunts and experiments.
• Because of Glasgow-Prestwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 65 feet, planes can take off or land at Glasgow-Prestwick 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.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,764 miles (18,932 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• However on 21 April 2008, during a BBC Two radio interview with Ken Bruce, theatre impresario and chairman of Everton F.C., Bill Kenwright, said that Elvis actually spent a day in the UK being shown around London by Tommy Steele in 1958.

Facts about Mataiva Airport (MVT):

• The closest airport to Mataiva Airport (MVT) is Arutua Airport (AXR), which is located 142 miles (228 kilometers) E of MVT.
• Because of Mataiva Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Mataiva 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 Mataiva Airport (MVT) is Khartoum International Airport (KRT), which is nearly antipodal to Mataiva Airport (meaning Mataiva Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Khartoum International Airport), and is located 12,339 miles (19,858 kilometers) away in Khartoum, Sudan.