Nonstop flight route between Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand and Sioux City, Iowa, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand and Sioux Gateway Airport (SUX), Sioux City, Iowa, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,970 miles (or 12,827 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 Kapiti Coast Airport and Sioux Gateway 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 Kapiti Coast Airport and Sioux Gateway 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 Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ):

• In 1949 a Lockheed Lodestar from Whenuapai crashed into the Tararua Range.
• 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.
• Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) has 3 runways.
• 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.
• Paraparaumu was judged unsuitable for international operations in the 1950s due to Kapiti Island to the near west and the Tararua Ranges barely a mile east infringing the take-off and landing flightpaths.
• The closest airport to Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) is Wellington International Airport (WLG), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) SSW of PPQ.
• On 17 February 2008, above an adjacent hardware store, Placemakers, there was a triple-fatality mid-air collision between a Cessna 152 and a helicopter, both of which plummeted from approximately 1500 ft, the helicopter into the store and the plane into a nearby street.
• 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.

Facts about Sioux Gateway Airport (SUX):

• The airport is owned and operated by the City of Sioux City and governed by a seven member Airport Board of Trustees.
• The closest airport to Sioux Gateway Airport (SUX) is Le Mars Municipal Airport (LRJ), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) NNE of SUX.
• In addition to being known as "Sioux Gateway Airport", another name for SUX is "Colonel Bud Day Field".
• Sioux Gateway Airport (SUX) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Sioux Gateway Airport (SUX) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,641 miles (17,125 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The construction of Sioux City Army Air Base began in March 1942, about three months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
• In July 2011, Delta Air Lines told the United States Department of Transportation that a weak economy and lower seat demand would force the company to reduce flights to several smaller communities including Sioux City unless it received assistance from the federal government.
• In the year ending November 30, 2012 the airport had 18,258 aircraft operations, an average of 50 per day.