Nonstop flight route between Wanaka, New Zealand and Columbus, Mississippi, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wanaka Airport (WKA), Wanaka, New Zealand and Columbus Air Force Base (CBM), Columbus, Mississippi, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,365 miles (or 13,461 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 Wanaka Airport and Columbus Air Force Base, 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 Wanaka Airport and Columbus Air Force Base. 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 Wanaka Airport (WKA):

• The furthest airport from Wanaka Airport (WKA) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Wanaka Airport (meaning Wanaka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,283 miles (19,768 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• The airport is the site of the biennial Warbirds over Wanaka international airshow.
• The closest airport to Wanaka Airport (WKA) is Queenstown Airport (ZQN), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) SW of WKA.
• Wanaka Airport (WKA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Wanaka Airport is the airport servicing the town of Wanaka, Otago, New Zealand and the surrounding ski fields.

Facts about Columbus Air Force Base (CBM):

• Columbus was initially assigned to the AAF Southeast Training Center with the Army Air Force Pilot School activated.
• The base began as a training facility for fighters and bombers.
• During World War II, the training load gradually increased until Columbus was graduating 195 pilots per month.
• On 8 January 1943, the War Department constituted and activated the 30th Flying Training Wing at Columbus and assigned it to the AAF Eastern Flying Training Command.
• The closest airport to Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Columbus-Lowndes County Airport (UBS), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSE of CBM.
• In addition to being known as "Columbus Air Force Base", another name for CBM is "Columbus AFB".
• But while the Air Force’s pilot training requirements were decreasing, its strategic air arm was expanding.During the 1950s, Strategic Air Command wings had become extremely large.
• With the end of World War II, Columbus AAF was first placed on "reduced activity status", and was inactivated on 15 August 1946.
• The furthest airport from Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,088 miles (17,844 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In preparation for this transfer, Air Training Command had activated the 3650th Pilot Training Wing at Columbus on 15 February.
• The installation's history began 26 June 1941, when the War Department approved establishment of an Army Air Field for the Columbus, Mississippi area.
• No one designated or suggested a name for the new base until 22 January 1942.