Nonstop flight route between Washington, D.C., United States and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bolling Air Force Base (BOF), Washington, D.C., United States and Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,184 miles (or 16,390 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 Bolling Air Force Base and Melbourne 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 Bolling Air Force Base and Melbourne 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 Bolling Air Force Base (BOF):

• Bolling's property has been a Department of Defense asset since 1917.
• The closest airport to Bolling Air Force Base (BOF) is Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), which is located only 1 miles (2 kilometers) WNW of BOF.
• Bolling Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Washington, D.C.
• The furthest airport from Bolling Air Force Base (BOF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,683 miles (18,802 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In the late 1940s, Bolling Field’s property became Naval Air Station Anacostia and a new Air Force base, named Bolling Air Force Base, was constructed just to the south on 24 June 1948.

Facts about Melbourne Airport (MEL):

• An expansion of the terminal was approved in 1989 and completed in 1991 when a second pier was added by Ansett to the south for use by smaller regional airline Kendell.
• The closest airport to Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Essendon Airport (MEB), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of MEL.
• 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.
• Opened with Melbourne Airport in 1970 for Trans Australia Airlines, the terminal passed to Qantas in 1992 when they acquired the airline.
• Before the opening of Melbourne Airport, Melbourne's main airport was Essendon Airport which was officially designated an international airport in 1950.
• Expansion of carparks has also continued with a $40 million project commenced in 2004, doubling the size of the short term carpark with the addition of 2,500 spaces over six levels, along with 1,200 new spaces added to the 5,000 already available in the long term carpark.
• Melbourne Airport was originally called Tullamarine Airport, after the adjacent suburb of the same name.
• Melbourne Airport (MEL) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine Airport".
• 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.
• Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.