Nonstop flight route between St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom and Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Leuchars (ADX), St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom and Gold Coast Airport (OOL), Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,169 miles (or 16,365 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 RAF Leuchars and Gold Coast 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 RAF Leuchars and Gold Coast 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 RAF Leuchars (ADX):

• The closest airport to RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Dundee Airport (DND), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NW of ADX.
• As the Navy embraced the value of aviation, the aircraft carrier was added to its inventory.
• In 1935 Leuchars became home to Number 1 Flying Training School and ranges for practice bombing were established in Tentsmuir Forest.
• The unit was formally named 'Royal Air Force Leuchars' in March 1920, but nevertheless retained its strong naval links.
• The furthest airport from RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,678 miles (18,793 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• RAF Leuchars is commanded by an Air Commodore instead of a Group Captain who would usually be given command of a station.
• As the Cold War reached its frostiest depths in the 1960s the development of long range aircraft allowed the Soviets regular incursion into British air space.
• On 18 July 2011 Defence Secretary Liam Fox announced that RAF Leuchars would close, whilst RAF Lossiemouth in Moray would be spared as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Facts about Gold Coast Airport (OOL):

• Gold Coast Airport (OOL) has 2 runways.
• By 1958 the taxiways and runways were fully paved, with the latter being upgraded a decade later to allow jet operations with DC-9 and L-188 Electra aircraft to begin.
• On 30 March 2011 Gold Coast Airport was named the Best Regional Airport Asia/Pacific and was awarded the staff Service Excellence Australia/Pacific award at the Skytrax World Airport Awards in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• The furthest airport from Gold Coast Airport (OOL) is La Palma Airport (SPC), which is located 11,905 miles (19,159 kilometers) away in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.
• Because of Gold Coast Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Gold Coast 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.
• By 2009 Jetstar began flying at least twice daily to the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka.
• On 13 June 2010 start up airline PacificFlier began weekly services from Koror, Palau, using an Airbus A310.
• Gold Coast Airport handled 5,261,773 passengers last year.
• On 16 November 2010 Jetstar announced new daily direct services to Hobart.
• The final runway was confirmed as 2,492 m long in 2007, as says the plaque and photos of 2006 runway length of 2042m compared to the 2007 runway length of 2,492m on the left wall of the arrivals southern exit.
• For the 2010–11 financial year, Gold Coast Airport was the sixth busiest airport in Australia in terms of passengers and eighth in aircraftmovements.
• The closest airport to Gold Coast Airport (OOL) is Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK), which is located 46 miles (75 kilometers) S of OOL.