Nonstop flight route between Abilene, Texas, United States and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), Abilene, Texas, United States and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,425 miles (or 13,558 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 Abilene Regional Airport and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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 Abilene Regional Airport and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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 Abilene Regional Airport (ABI):

• The closest airport to Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) is Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) W of ABI.
• Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) has 3 runways.
• Most operations at the airport are general aviation and military training.
• Southwest Medevac houses a medical helicopter and crew at the airport, available for emergency response 24/7.
• A GDS search indicated that Delta Air Lines would begin service to/from Atlanta in April 2014, but Abilene Airport officials stated on their Twitter account that there would be no such service.
• The furthest airport from Abilene Regional Airport (ABI) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,072 miles (17,819 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD):

• The new terminal was officially opened on 3 May 1970, by Queen Elizabeth II.
• In 1921 the federal government purchased 161 acres in Mascot for the purpose of creating a public airfield.
• The furthest airport from Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (meaning Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,144 miles (19,543 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Bankstown Airport (BWU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of SYD.
• The limitations of having only two runways that crossed each other had become apparent and governments grappled with Sydney's airport capacity for decades.
• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• The "third runway" which the Commonwealth government commenced development of in 1989 and completed in 1994, remained controversial because of increased aircraftmovements, especially over many inner suburbs.
• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• The airport provides a shuttle service between the terminals at a cost of A$5.50.
• Because of Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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 Darwin – Sydney route includes data from May 2012, prior data was not released.