Nonstop flight route between Wellington, New Zealand and Bilbao, Spain:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WLG to BIO:
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- About this route
- WLG Airport Information
- BIO Airport Information
- Facts about WLG
- Facts about BIO
- Map of Nearest Airports to WLG
- List of Nearest Airports to WLG
- Map of Furthest Airports from WLG
- List of Furthest Airports from WLG
- Map of Nearest Airports to BIO
- List of Nearest Airports to BIO
- Map of Furthest Airports from BIO
- List of Furthest Airports from BIO
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wellington International Airport (WLG), Wellington, New Zealand and Bilbao Airport (BIO), Bilbao, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,257 miles (or 19,726 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 Bilbao 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 Bilbao Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
The distance between WLG and BIO makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Wellington International Airport and Bilbao 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 WLG and BIO are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Wellington, New Zealand and Bilbao, Spain 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 WLG and BIO!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | WLG / NZWN |
Airport Name: | Wellington International Airport |
Location: | Wellington, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 41°19'37"S by 174°48'19"E |
Area Served: | Wellington, New Zealand |
Operator/Owner: | Infratil, Wellington City Council |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 42 feet (13 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from WLG |
More Information: | WLG Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BIO / LEBB |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Bilbao, Spain |
GPS Coordinates: | 43°18'3"N by 2°54'38"W |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 137 feet (42 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from BIO |
More Information: | BIO Maps & Info |
Facts about Wellington International Airport (WLG):
- A proposal to relocate the terminal from the east side to the site of the Miramar Golf Course was put forward in 1956.
- As recently as 1992, several alternate sites for Wellington Airport were considered – Te Horo, Paraparaumu, Mana Island, Ohariu Valley, Horokiwi, Wairarapa and Pencarrow – but a decision was made to upgrade the existing site at Rongotai.
- 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.
- Wellington International Airport (WLG) currently has only 1 runway.
- The airport comprises a small 110-hectare site on the Rongotai isthmus, a stretch of low-lying land between Wellington proper and the Miramar Peninsula.
- The closest airport to Wellington International Airport (WLG) is Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) NNE of WLG.
- In 1991, the airport released plans to widen the taxiway to CAA Code D & E specifications and acquire extra space, which were abandoned after protests from local residents.
- 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.
- The main terminal building contains a common check-in area on the first floor and a common baggage claim area on the ground floor.
- 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.
Facts about Bilbao Airport (BIO):
- Users of the airport widely complained about its lack of an arrivals area, since once passengers cleared customs, they stepped directly outside, and there they were often exposed to the elements.
- The airport has seen a constant increase in its traffic numbers, the old terminal was already saturated and obsolete in 1990, although it had been renewed only a few years earlier.
- The furthest airport from Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is nearly antipodal to Bilbao Airport (meaning Bilbao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hood Aerodrome), and is located 12,260 miles (19,730 kilometers) away in Masterton, New Zealand.
- The closest airport to Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) SSE of BIO.
- Bilbao Airport (BIO) has 2 runways.
- On 19 February 1985, an Iberia flight from Madrid crashed into Mount Oiz, all passengers and crew died.
- The construction works commenced during the Civil War but during this time and until June 1937 the airport was only used as a base for military activities.
- There has been some criticism of Santiago Calatrava's design by Aena, the Spanish airport authority, because it seems difficult to make further enlargements in the terminal's capacity because the design is too closed.
- Bilbao Airport handled 3,800,789 passengers last year.
- Because of Bilbao Airport's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Bilbao 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.
- In addition to being known as "Bilbao Airport", another name for BIO is "Bilboko aireportua (eu) Aeropuerto de Bilbao (es)".