Nonstop flight route between West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE), West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,473 miles (or 15,246 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 Columbia Metropolitan 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 Columbia Metropolitan 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 Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE):

• The closest airport to Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport (CUB), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ENE of CAE.
• The airport was built in the 1940 as Lexington County Airport.
• The furthest airport from Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,508 miles (18,520 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport handled 1,027,699 passengers last year.
• The terminal opened May 30, 1965 and was renovated in 1997.
• Training at Columbia Army Air Base was phased down during the summer of 1945.
• Because of Columbia Metropolitan Airport's relatively low elevation of 236 feet, planes can take off or land at Columbia Metropolitan 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.
• Passenger service was begun by Delta Air Lines which has served Columbia for over 70 years.
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) has 2 runways.
• In 1941 the airport came under formal military control and an immediate program began to turn the civil airport into a military airfield.

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

• Terminal 1 was opened on 3 May 1970, replacing the old Overseas Passenger Terminal and has been greatly expanded since then.
• 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 issue of a second airport for Sydney arose again after the Rudd government was elected in 2007.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• In addition to the curfew, Sydney Airport also has a cap of 80 aircraft movements per hour which cannot be exceeded, leading to increased delays during peak hours.
• 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.
• 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.
• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.