Distance between Auckland and Christchurch (straight line)

The straight-line distance between Auckland and Christchurch, both in New Zealand, is 765 km (475 miles), as the crow flies, measured from one city centre to the other. It is the shortest path over the Earth's surface; any road between them is longer.

Straight-line distance

765 km

475 miles · straight line

Heading from Auckland

193° (south-southwest)

initial compass bearing to Christchurch

Flight time estimate, not a booking

~55 min

at about 800 km/h, in the air only

Straight-line (great-circle) distance, as the crow flies. The road distance is longer.

AucklandChristchurchThe line is the great circle: straight over the globe, curved on a flat map.

Measure your own two places

Pick any two cities, addresses or coordinates in the calculator, or start from where you are standing. It gives the same straight-line distance, in miles and kilometres.

Auckland to Christchurch at a glance

Straight-line distance
765 km (475 miles), as the crow flies
Heading from Auckland
193° (south-southwest) to Christchurch
Heading from Christchurch
14° (north-northeast) to Auckland
Midpoint
40.1958° S, 173.7510° E, halfway along the straight line
Flight time estimate, not a booking
About 55 min in the air at a cruising speed of 800 km/h along the straight line. Take-off, landing, the real flight path and any stops add more.
Auckland, New Zealand
36.8485° S, 174.7635° E (city centre)
Christchurch, New Zealand
43.5333° S, 172.6333° E (city centre)

Nearby city pairs

Questions

Is 765 km (475 miles) the driving distance from Auckland to Christchurch?

No. 765 km (475 miles) is the straight-line distance between the two city centres, as the crow flies. A road route is always longer, because roads bend around terrain and water, and MapGO does not measure driving distance or travel time.

How is the distance between Auckland and Christchurch measured?

Along a great circle: the shortest line over the Earth's surface, from Auckland's centre (36.8485° S, 174.7635° E) to Christchurch's (43.5333° S, 172.6333° E). This is what "straight-line distance" and "as the crow flies" mean on a globe. On a flat map the line can look curved.

How accurate is this distance?

Within about 0.5% for the two centre points. The figure treats the Earth as a sphere (the haversine formula), while the real Earth is slightly flattened, which shifts a long straight-line distance by up to about 0.5%. Measuring from another part of either city changes it more, since a large city can be tens of kilometres across.

Computed by MapGO from each city's centre point (GeoNames) with the haversine formula. All distances on this page are straight lines over the Earth's surface, not road distances.