Nonstop flight route between Queenstown, New Zealand and St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Queenstown Airport (ZQN), Queenstown, New Zealand and St Mary's Airport (ISC), St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,027 miles (or 19,355 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 Queenstown Airport and St Mary's 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 Queenstown Airport and St Mary's Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between ZQN and ISC makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Queenstown Airport and St Mary's Airport would be very impractical for the airlines, because only a lightly loaded Boeing 777-200LR would be able to make the trip. Since airlines need to be able to take as many people and cargo as possible in order to make a profit, the odds of ever seeing a nonstop flight between ZQN and ISC are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Queenstown, New Zealand and St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom by taking some connecting flights!

Did you know that one full circling of the Earth (measuring from the equator) is about 24,901.5 miles (or 40,075 kilometers), which means if you were 12,450 miles from any given point on the planet, the distance back to your starting point would be about the same -- in any direction! The same can be said for a nonstop flight between ZQN and ISC!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Queenstown Airport (ZQN):

• The furthest airport from Queenstown Airport (ZQN) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Queenstown Airport (meaning Queenstown Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,251 miles (19,716 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• Queenstown Airport (ZQN) has 2 runways.
• A regular scenic route between Queenstown and Milford Sound was first established by Southern Scenic Air Services Ltd in August 1951.
• The closest airport to Queenstown Airport (ZQN) is Wanaka Airport (WKA), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) NE of ZQN.
• On 22 June 2010, a late-running Pacific Blue flight to Sydney took off from Queenstown.

Facts about St Mary's Airport (ISC):

• St Mary's Airport (ISC) has 2 runways.
• Because of St Mary's Airport's relatively low elevation of 116 feet, planes can take off or land at St Mary's 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.
• On 15 September 1937, Olley Air Service's subsidiary Channel Air Ferries started the first scheduled service between Land's End and St Mary's, flying de Havilland Dragons.
• The furthest airport from St Mary's Airport (ISC) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to St Mary's Airport (meaning St Mary's Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,117 miles (19,501 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• In 1984 Isles of Scilly Skybus started flights to St Mary's from Land's End, initially freight and charter.
• On 2 May 1964, BEA replaced its Dragon Rapides on the Land's End route with a single Sikorsky S-61 helicopter, operated by BEA Helicopters.
• The closest airport to St Mary's Airport (ISC) is Tresco Heliport (TSO), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) NW of ISC.
• In February 2014, the Council of the Isles of Scilly approved a plan to share the management of St Mary's Airport with Westward Airways, who operate Land's End Airport.
• St Mary's Airport handled 89,170 passengers last year.
• In May 2013, the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company and the Council of the Isles of Scilly submitted a joint bid for finance from the European Regional Development Fund for improvements to the terminal, new lighting and navigational systems and runway resurfacing, together with runway resurfacing at Land's End Airport.
• In addition to being known as "St Mary's Airport", other names for ISC include "Isles of Scilly Airport" and "Scilly Isles/St Mary's Airport".