Nonstop flight route between Rabaul, Papua New Guinea and Invercargill, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rabaul Airport (RAB), Rabaul, Papua New Guinea and Invercargill Airport (IVC), Invercargill, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,060 miles (or 4,924 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 Rabaul Airport and Invercargill 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 Rabaul Airport and Invercargill 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 Rabaul Airport (RAB):

• The closest airport to Rabaul Airport (RAB) is Namatanai Airport (ATN), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) N of RAB.
• Because of Rabaul Airport's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Rabaul 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.
• In addition to being known as "Rabaul Airport", another name for RAB is "Tokua Airport".
• Rabaul Airport (RAB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 32 feet above mean sea level.
• The furthest airport from Rabaul Airport (RAB) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,780 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.

Facts about Invercargill Airport (IVC):

• The airport's first scheduled service was in 1944 by Union Airways' Lockheed 10 Electra flying from Dunedin.
• Invercargill Airport is a controlled aerodrome located one mile west of the city centre of Invercargill at the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand.
• Invercargill Airport (IVC) has 4 runways.
• Although only ever a backup airport during World War II, military operations have remained rare due to Christchurch being chosen as the main Operation Deep Freeze Base in 1949 and what was then Dunedin's Taieri Aerodrome acting as a departure point for shorter range aircraft heading south.
• Invercargill Airport handled 27,092 passengers last year.
• Today's airport is located on what was a tidal estuary lake.
• Because of Invercargill Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Invercargill 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.
• Since July 2012, Air New Zealand has used Invercargill as a technical stop when conditions in Queenstown restrict aircraft from taking off with sufficient fuel to fly direct to Australia due to weather or operational reasons.
• The furthest airport from Invercargill Airport (IVC) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Invercargill Airport (meaning Invercargill Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,168 miles (19,582 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• In 2005, the runway was extended to 2,210 m at a cost of NZ$5 million, as of 2012 it is the third longest civilian runway in New Zealand, capable of handling aircraft of Boeing 737/Airbus A320 type sized aircraft.
• Regular jet services operated into the airport until 1995, when Air New Zealand restructured all its secondary provincial routes after subsidiary Mount Cook Airline introduced the 68 seat ATR 72-200 into service.
• The closest airport to Invercargill Airport (IVC) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) SSW of IVC.