Nonstop flight route between Wanaka, New Zealand and Abilene, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wanaka Airport (WKA), Wanaka, New Zealand and Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), Abilene, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,790 miles (or 12,537 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 Dyess 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 Dyess 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 lack of a VHF omnidirectional range beacon at the airport poses an issue for some aircraft.
• 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.
• Wanaka Airport (WKA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Non scheduled services are made by Vincent Aviation to Te Anau and Wellington, Aspiring Air to Queenstown 3 flights per day, and Glenorchy Air from Queenstown and Glenorchy.
• The closest airport to Wanaka Airport (WKA) is Queenstown Airport (ZQN), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) SW of WKA.

Facts about Dyess Air Force Base (DYS):

• The closest airport to Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DYS.
• In 1942, the United States Army Air Forces built Tye Army Air Field, as it was popularly known, on the site of what is now known as Dyess AFB.
• The furthest airport from Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,080 miles (17,831 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to being known as "Dyess Air Force Base", another name for DYS is "Dyess AFB".
• In June 1985, the 96th received its first B-1B Lancer replacing the B-52 Stratofortress and in October 1986, assumed nuclear alert status.
• The 77th and 69th groups were units that trained reconnaissance personnel who later served overseas.
• Shortly after the Korean War broke out, the city of Abilene called for the need of a military installation.
• The base is named after Lt Col William Edwin Dyess, a native of Albany, Texas, who was captured by the Japanese on Bataan in April 1942.