Nonstop flight route between Stewart Island, New Zealand and Chennai (Madras), India:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), Stewart Island, New Zealand and Chennai International Airport (MAA), Chennai (Madras), India would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,775 miles (or 10,903 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 Chennai International 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 Chennai International 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):

• The closest airport to Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) is Invercargill Airport (IVC), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of SZS.
• 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 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.
• In the mid-1980s Stewart Island Air Services changed its name to Southern Air Limited with Keith Smith, Joe Cave, Bill Haslett and Sam Nicol as shareholders.
• Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport is at an elevation of 288 feet above mean sea level.
• 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.

Facts about Chennai International Airport (MAA):

• Chennai airport is the regional headquarters of the Airports Authority of India for the southern region of India comprising the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala and the union territories of Puducherry and Lakshadweep.
• The closest airport to Chennai International Airport (MAA) is Tirupati Airport (TIR), which is located 61 miles (99 kilometers) NW of MAA.
• Chennai is among the four flight information centres in the country besides Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, and the Chennai ATC has Hyderabad, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore under its control.
• Chennai International Airport (MAA) has 2 runways.
• As a first step towards integrating the entire airspace in the country, the automation system at the ATC in Chennai Airport was commissioned on 1 October 2011.
• In addition to being known as "Chennai International Airport", another name for MAA is "Madras Airport Meenambakkam Airport சென்னை பன்னாட்டு வானுர்தி நிலையம்".
• The Air Cargo Complex at the Chennai airport was established in 1978, when all regulatory and facilitating agencies were brought under one roof for faster processing/clearance of international cargo, to cater for air cargo movement in the southern region.
• Chennai airport is the main gateway for the air cargo traffic from the southern region of India which caters to the requirement of Far-East regions, the Europe and the United States, and recently African destinations such as Ethiopia and Nigeria.
• Because of Chennai International Airport's relatively low elevation of 52 feet, planes can take off or land at Chennai International 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.
• The furthest airport from Chennai International Airport (MAA) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,351 miles (18,268 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.