Nonstop flight route between Stewart Island, New Zealand and Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), Stewart Island, New Zealand and RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,768 miles (or 18,938 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 RAF Mildenhall, 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 RAF Mildenhall. 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.
• The aerodrome was built in the late 1970s to accommodate Stewart Island Air Services.
• In 1990 a hill at one end of the strip was leveled.
• 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.
• 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 RAF Mildenhall (MHZ):

• The 727 AMS is part of AMC's en route system that provides fixed and deployed maintenance, aerial port and command and control support to deployed command forces across the globe.
• The squadron provides all operational management, aircraft maintenance, administration, and intelligence support to produce politically sensitive real-time intelligence data vital to national foreign policy.
• RAF Mildenhall hosts units from four different major USAF commands – Air Combat Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Mobility Command and United States Air Forces in Europe.
• RAF Mildenhall and its sister base RAF Lakenheath have the largest United States Air Force presence in the United Kingdom.
• The closest airport to RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) NE of MHZ.
• The 352 SOG is the Air Force component for Special Operations Command Europe, a sub-unified command of the US European Command.
• The furthest airport from RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,829 miles (19,037 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• RAF Mildenhall opened on 16 October 1934.
• Also administratively assigned to the 488th Intelligence Squadron is Operating Location Souda Bay, Crete.