Nonstop flight route between Sofia, Bulgaria and Whangarei, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria and Whangarei Airport (WRE), Whangarei, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,820 miles (or 17,412 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• Options for different airport developments began to be examined in the mid-1960s.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• Lufthansa Technik Sofia was founded in late 2007 as a joint venture between Lufthansa Technik and the Bulgarian Aviation Group.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• The project for the construction of a new airport control tower at Sofia Airport commenced on 16 June 2006 with a decision of the BULATSA Management Board.
• Contract for detailed design and construction of a new control tower of the airport and forming an ATM Glavbolgarstroy.
• Total cost of the project was planned at 200 million euros.
• Service life of the new airport control tower will be more than 40 years and is designed to serve the airport with a possible extension.
• On 31 August 2006, Sofia Airport put its new runway system into operation, replacing the old and out-of-date facilities.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• Two de-icing platforms are constructed to allow centralised de-icing procedures in winter.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Whangarei Airport (WRE):

• Whangarei District Airport no longer has an Aero Club due to a drop in membership and private flying.
• Whangarei Airport (WRE) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 2 July 2010, a Cessna 172 leased by Skydive Ballistic Blondes crashed onto Church St at the beginning of runway 24 due to an engine failure on approach.
• The Whangarei District Council approved an upgrade of the main runway and this was completed in April 2009.
• The control tower was closed down in 1988 as the airport was too small to warrant the service.