Nonstop flight route between Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and Whangarei, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and Whangarei Airport (WRE), Whangarei, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,072 miles (or 17,819 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 Whangarei 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 Whangarei 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):

• The United States Air Force operated a base in 1952 on the site of the original airport using former Royal Air Force facilities 1631st Air Base Squadron), and in 1953 on the Monkton side of the airport, both used by the USAF MATS.
• Today, part of the Prestwick site is occupied by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm with RNAS Prestwick, where a detachment of 3 Sea Kings provide a search and rescue role, covering one of the largest SAR areas of the UK including Ben Nevis, the Lakes, Northern Ireland and 200 NM past the Irish coast.
• According to a 2008 Master Plan the departure lounge is at capacity and congested during peak operations.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
• 2009 saw the unit break a new record as they were tasked to 447 call outs.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• On 6 July 2005, Prestwick Airport became the entry point for the participants in the 31st G8 summit held in Gleneagles.
• In the beginning Prestwick was the only Scottish airport allowed to operate a transatlantic link, largely due to the benign weather conditions on the Ayrshire coast.
• 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.
• Glasgow Prestwick Airport is considered to be the only piece of United Kingdom territory on which Elvis Presley ever set foot, when the United States Army transport plane carrying him home stopped to refuel in 1960, en route from Germany.
• The closest airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Glasgow International Airport (GLA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NNE of PIK.

Facts about Whangarei Airport (WRE):

• Because of Whangarei Airport's relatively low elevation of 133 feet, planes can take off or land at Whangarei 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 1970s saw an increase in domestic travel from Whangarei, so a new airport terminal was built on the northern side of the main runway to cater for this.
• In 2009, airport passenger numbers were increasing steadily, with flight numbers increasing also, reaching a peak of 10 return flights to Auckland and 2 return flights to Wellington on weekdays.
• The change in aircraft type restored capacity to 136,656 seats available on Air New Zealand per year.
• The airport has a modern air-conditioned terminal building with free wifi and a cafeteria, which services Air New Zealand's subsidiaries, Eagle Airways and Air Nelson.
• The furthest airport from Whangarei Airport (WRE) is Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport (TNG), which is nearly antipodal to Whangarei Airport (meaning Whangarei Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport), and is located 12,421 miles (19,989 kilometers) away in Tangier, Morocco.
• The closest airport to Whangarei Airport (WRE) is Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) WSW of WRE.
• Whangarei Airport (WRE) has 2 runways.
• On 9 February 2007, a Robinson R22 helicopter training at Whangarei Airport crash landed in Whangarei Harbour.