Nonstop flight route between Cairns, Queensland, Australia and Houston, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cairns Airport (CNS), Cairns, Queensland, Australia and George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Houston, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,504 miles (or 13,686 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 Cairns Airport and George Bush Intercontinental 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 Cairns Airport and George Bush Intercontinental 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 Cairns Airport (CNS):

• The airport has direct flights to 20 international and 44 domestic destinations and many general aviation flights including a number of helicopter operators.
• Cairns Airport (CNS) currently has only 1 runway.
• Cairns Airport handled 3,848,728 passengers last year.
• Cairns Airport goes back to 1928 when Tom McDonald started flying his de Havilland Gipsy Moth off a sand ridge near the present airport.
• The closest airport to Cairns Airport (CNS) is Mareeba Airfield (MRG), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) WSW of CNS.
• The furthest airport from Cairns Airport (CNS) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,832 miles (19,041 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• Because of Cairns Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Cairns 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.
• Ranks are located near both the International and Domestic Terminals.

Facts about George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH):

• The closest airport to George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport (DWH), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) WNW of IAH.
• The site for Bush Intercontinental Airport was originally purchased by a group of Houston businessmen in 1957 to preserve the site until the city of Houston could formulate a plan for a second airport, supplanting what was then known as Houston Municipal Airport.
• The food court areas are in the center of each concourse, near the departure gates.
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport handled 40,128,953 passengers last year.
• Because of George Bush Intercontinental Airport's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at George Bush Intercontinental 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 furthest airport from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,981 miles (17,672 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "George Bush Intercontinental Airport", another name for IAH is "Houston-Intercontinental".
• Atlas Air offers a thrice-weekly charter service to Luanda, Angola on behalf of SonAir.
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) has 5 runways.
• Houston became the sixth U.S.