Nonstop flight route between Stewart Island, New Zealand and Lyon, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), Stewart Island, New Zealand and Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS), Lyon, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,624 miles (or 18,707 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 Ryan's Creek Aerodrome and Lyon–Saint Exupéry 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 Ryan's Creek Aerodrome and Lyon–Saint Exupéry 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 Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS):

• Ryan's Creek Aerodrome is a small airstrip on Stewart Island in southern New Zealand.
• In 1990 a hill at one end of the strip was leveled.
• Because of Ryan's Creek Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 288 feet, planes can take off or land at Ryan's Creek 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 Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (meaning Ryan's Creek Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,135 miles (19,529 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2000 Southern Air 1997 Ltd was bought by Stewart Island Flights, which uses Islanders FXE and FWZ, Cessna A185E Skywagon JEM and Piper PA32 Cherokee Sixs RTS and DIV aircraft in its service.
• The closest airport to Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) is Invercargill Airport (IVC), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of SZS.
• The aerodrome was built in the late 1970s to accommodate Stewart Island Air Services.

Facts about Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS):

• Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport handled 8,451,039 passengers last year.
• Because of Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport's relatively low elevation of 821 feet, planes can take off or land at Lyon–Saint Exupéry 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.
• Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) has 2 runways.
• In 2013, the airport served 8,562,298 passengers, an increase of 1.3% over the previous year.
• The airport was inaugurated by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on 12 April 1975 and opened to passengers a week later.
• In addition to being known as "Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport", another name for LYS is "Aéroport Lyon-Saint Exupéry".
• The closest airport to Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) is Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) W of LYS.
• Since 1997, the airport has been a focus city for the airline Air France.
• The furthest airport from Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (meaning Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,284 miles (19,770 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.