Nonstop flight route between Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States and Kaikoura, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pope Field (POB), Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States and Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ), Kaikoura, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,614 miles (or 13,863 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 Pope Field and Kaikoura Aerodrome, 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 Pope Field and Kaikoura Aerodrome. 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 Pope Field (POB):

• Pope AFB is named after First Lieutenant Harley Halbert Pope who was killed on January 7, 1919, when the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny he was flying crashed into the Cape Fear River.
• The furthest airport from Pope Field (POB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,630 miles (18,716 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 464th received the Mackay Trophy for the dramatic RED DRAGON/DRAGON ROUGE and BLACK DRAGON/DRAGON NOIR hostage rescue missions in the Congo in 1964.
• The United States Army Fort Bragg Garrison is the host organization at Pope Field.
• During its time at Pope, a major period of facility expansion occurred.
• On September 21, 1954, Ninth AF turned Pope over to the 464th Troop Carrier Wing which transferred from Lawson AFB, Georgia.
• The drop zones, low-level routes, and dirt landing zones at Fort Bragg became familiar to many men bound for Southeast Asia.
• The United States Air Force 43d Airlift Group was activated at Pope on March 1, 2011.
• The closest airport to Pope Field (POB) is Simmons Army Airfield (FBG), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) ESE of POB.
• In April 1992, A/OA-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft were transferred to the 75th Fighter Squadron from the 353d FS / 354th FW at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina prior to the wing's inactivation and the base's closure in January 1993.
• The USAF 440th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force Reserve unit performs airfield operations to include airfield management, weather forecasting, airfield tower control, airfield navigation and landing systems’ maintenance.

Facts about Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ):

• Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ) is Woodbourne Airport (BHE), which is located 64 miles (103 kilometers) NNE of KBZ.
• Because of Kaikoura Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Kaikoura Aerodrome 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 Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ) is León Airport (LEN), which is nearly antipodal to Kaikoura Aerodrome (meaning Kaikoura Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from León Airport), and is located 12,397 miles (19,952 kilometers) away in León, Spain.
• Air Kaikoura is another scenic operator based at the aerodrome since 1983.