Nonstop flight route between Palmerston North, New Zealand and Lajes, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palmerston North Airport (PMR), Palmerston North, New Zealand and Lajes Air Base (TER), Lajes, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,225 miles (or 18,066 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 Palmerston North Airport and Lajes Air 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 Palmerston North Airport and Lajes Air 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 Palmerston North Airport (PMR):

• On 17 May 1998, ten people towed a fully fuelled Freedom Air Boeing 737-300 over 100 metres in 47 seconds, to celebrate the opening of the new runway extensions.
• Palmerston North Airport is located on the outskirts of the suburb of Milson in Palmerston North, New Zealand, 5 km north-east of the City central area.
• The closest airport to Palmerston North Airport (PMR) is Wanganui Airport (WAG), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) NW of PMR.
• There were two regular international services departing from this airport, to Sydney and Brisbane operated by Freedom Air, however services ended in March 2008.
• Because of Palmerston North Airport's relatively low elevation of 151 feet, planes can take off or land at Palmerston North 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 furthest airport from Palmerston North Airport (PMR) is Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), which is nearly antipodal to Palmerston North Airport (meaning Palmerston North Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Madrid, Spain.
• Tauranga Airport, Air New Zealand Link and Palmerston North Airport are in discussions to commence flights between Palmerston North and Tauranga
• Palmerston North Airport handled 449,090 passengers last year.
• Palmerston North Airport (PMR) has 2 runways.

Facts about Lajes Air Base (TER):

• In the summer of 1984, Lajes undertook a new mission known as "SILK PURSE." Boeing EC-135s began operating out of Lajes Field as an airborne command post for the U.S.
• Because of Lajes Air Base's relatively low elevation of 180 feet, planes can take off or land at Lajes Air Base 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.
• During World War II, the designation of the airfield was changed to Air Base No.4 and the Portuguese government expanded the runway, sending troops and equipment to Terceira, including Gloster Gladiator fighters.
• The furthest airport from Lajes Air Base (TER) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Lajes Air Base (meaning Lajes Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,229 miles (19,680 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• Lajes Air Base (TER) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Lajes Air Base", other names for TER include "Base Aérea das Lajes", "Base Aérea Nº 4" and "Aeroporto das Lajes".
• The civilian terminal also plays an important role in support of passenger and cargo airliners, executive, corporate and private jets flying to the island or beyond as the central location in the Azores group of islands makes it an ideal spot for refuelling or stopover.
• The closest airport to Lajes Air Base (TER) is Graciosa Airport (GRW), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) WNW of TER.
• In 1961, the Portuguese Air Force EICAP was transferred to Lajes, operating Douglas C-47, Douglas C-54 and later CASA C-212 Aviocar.
• On August 9, 1954, a Lockheed L-749A-79 Constellation operated by Avianca crashed three minutes after take off.
• Lajes Field was one of the two stopover and refueling bases for the first transatlantic crossing of non-rigid airships in 1944.