Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Ketchikan, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Ketchikan International Airport (KTN), Ketchikan, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,073 miles (or 12,991 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 Melbourne Airport and Ketchikan International 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 Melbourne Airport and Ketchikan International 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 Melbourne Airport (MEL):

• Terminal 2 handles all international flights out of Melbourne Airport and the city and opened with the airport in 1970.
• Because of Melbourne Airport's relatively low elevation of 434 feet, planes can take off or land at Melbourne 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 2003, Melbourne received the International Air Transport Association Eagle Award for service and two National Tourism Awards for tourism services.
• The furthest airport from Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Melbourne Airport (meaning Melbourne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,187 miles (19,613 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Essendon Airport (MEB), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of MEL.
• Melbourne Airport (MEL) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine Airport".
• Terminal 4 – originally called the Domestic Express or South Terminal – is dedicated to budget airlines and is the first facility of its kind at a conventional airport in Australia.
• Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
• The first major upgrades at the airport were carried out at the domestic terminals, with an expansion of the Ansett domestic terminal approved in 1989 and completed in 1991, adding a second pier added for use by smaller regional airlines.
• A$330 million expansion programme for Terminal 2 was announced in 2007.

Facts about Ketchikan International Airport (KTN):

• The furthest airport from Ketchikan International Airport (KTN) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 10,613 miles (17,081 kilometers) away in Port Alfred, South Africa.
• In 2004, a new taxiway "Bravo" was added to facilitate taxiing to the end of the frequently used runway 11 higher than the apron further up the hillside, requiring long, gently sloped taxiways to either end).
• Ketchikan International Airport (KTN) has 2 runways.
• Because of Ketchikan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 89 feet, planes can take off or land at Ketchikan 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 closest airport to Ketchikan International Airport (KTN) is Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base (WFB), which is located only 2 miles (3 kilometers) ESE of KTN.