Nonstop flight route between Wellington, New Zealand and Lyon, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wellington International Airport (WLG), Wellington, New Zealand and Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS), Lyon, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,840 miles (or 19,054 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 Wellington International Airport 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 Wellington International Airport 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 Wellington International Airport (WLG):

• The length of the runway has limited the size of aircraft that can use the airport on a commercial basis, and overseas destinations are limited to the east coast of Australia and the South Pacific.
• A full-length runway extension, to accommodate long-haul aircraft such as the Boeing 747, has been previously investigated, but would require expensive land reclamation into Lyall Bay, and massive breakwater protection from Cook Strait.
• The furthest airport from Wellington International Airport (WLG) is Salamanca-Matacán Airport (SLM), which is nearly antipodal to Wellington International Airport (meaning Wellington International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salamanca-Matacán Airport), and is located 12,406 miles (19,966 kilometers) away in Salamanca, Spain.
• Wellington's original domestic terminal was built as a temporary measure inside a corrugated iron hangar, originally used to assemble de Havilland aircraft.
• Because of Wellington International Airport's relatively low elevation of 42 feet, planes can take off or land at Wellington 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 main terminal building contains a common check-in area on the first floor and a common baggage claim area on the ground floor.
• Wellington International Airport (WLG) currently has only 1 runway.
• At 2,081 metres, Wellington's runway is shorter than some New Zealand domestic airport runways.
• Wellington is the third busiest airport in New Zealand handling a total of 5,373,622 passengers in the year ending 31 March 2013.
• The closest airport to Wellington International Airport (WLG) is Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) NNE of WLG.

Facts about Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS):

• Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• The airport was originally named Lyon Satolas Airport, but in 2000 the airport and train station were renamed in honour of Lyonnais aviation pioneer and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, on the centenary of his birth.
• The airport consists of three terminals and two runways aligned north–south.
• In addition to being known as "Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport", another name for LYS is "Aéroport Lyon-Saint Exupéry".
• 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.
• In 2013, the airport served 8,562,298 passengers, an increase of 1.3% over the previous year.
• 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.