Nonstop flight route between Pico Island, Azores, Portugal and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pico Airport (PIX), Pico Island, Azores, Portugal and Essendon Airport (MEB), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,071 miles (or 19,426 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 Pico Airport and Essendon 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 Pico Airport and Essendon Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between PIX and MEB makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Pico Airport and Essendon 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 PIX and MEB are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Pico Island, Azores, Portugal and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 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 PIX and MEB!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Pico Airport (PIX):

• In addition to being known as "Pico Airport", another name for PIX is "Aeroporto do Pico".
• Pico Airport (PIX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport on Pico is situated 8 kilometres from the urban center of Madalena, at an altitude of 34 metres above sea level.
• In 1990, with the arrival of new ATP aircraft for SATA Air Açores' fleet, the decision was taken to extend the runway, to improve operations with this type of aircraft.
• Managed by SATA Gestão de Aeródromos, it has an 1,754 metres operational runway, with a width of 45 metres.
• The furthest airport from Pico Airport (PIX) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Pico Airport (meaning Pico Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,291 miles (19,781 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• Because of Pico Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Pico 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 Pico Airport (PIX) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) W of PIX.

Facts about Essendon Airport (MEB):

• In 2001, the Commonwealth Government sold its management rights for the airport to Edgelear Pty.
• Essendon Airport (MEB) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Essendon Airport", another name for MEB is "Melbourne/Essendon".
• The major passenger airlines using Essendon in the postwar years until scheduled air services were transferred to Tullamarine were Ansett Airlines and Trans Australia Airlines.
• On 31 January 1945, a heavily-modified Stinson Model A registered VH-UYY and named Tokana, operated by Australian National Airways, departed from Essendon Airport for the daily flight to Kerang.
• The 1920s period saw the great pioneering aviation flights of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith who visited the airport on several occasions.
• Because of Essendon Airport's relatively low elevation of 282 feet, planes can take off or land at Essendon 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.
• Essendon became Australia's second, and Melbourne's first international airport in February 1950.
• The furthest airport from Essendon Airport (MEB) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Essendon Airport (meaning Essendon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,192 miles (19,620 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• In 2007, the airport was re-designed under a new master plan, as part of the Essendon Fields development.
• The closest airport to Essendon Airport (MEB) is Melbourne Airport (MEL), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NW of MEB.