Nonstop flight route between Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS), Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States and Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,759 miles (or 14,096 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 City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport 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 City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport 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 City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS):

• In 1927 the airport opened on 640 acres seven miles east of the city, with two gravel runways.
• City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,940 miles (17,606 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS) is United States Air Force Academy (AFF), which is located only 15 miles (25 kilometers) NNW of COS.
• Because of City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport's high elevation of 6,187 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at COS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make COS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s the airport tried to expand service.
• City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport is a city-owned public civil-military airport 6 miles southeast of Colorado Springs, in El Paso County, Colorado.
• Since September 2011 the airport terminal has been under renovation, that includes reconstruction of the TSA checkpoint to support full body scanners, expansion of office space behind the ticket counters, and new facilities for automated baggage screening.
• Repairs to runway 17L/35R, first scheduled for 2011 but delayed by the FAA shutdown, will begin in spring 2012.

Facts about Melbourne Airport (MEL):

• In 2003, Melbourne received the International Air Transport Association Eagle Award for service and two National Tourism Awards for tourism services.
• 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.
• Terminal 2 handles all international flights out of Melbourne Airport and the city and opened with the airport in 1970.
• The closest airport to Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Essendon Airport (MEB), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of MEL.
• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine Airport".
• In 1988, the Australian Government formed the Federal Airports Corporation, placing Melbourne Airport under the operational control of the new corporation along with 21 other airports around the nation.
• Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
• 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 (MEL) has 2 runways.
• The first major upgrades at the airport were carried out at the domestic terminals, with an expansion of the Ansett domestic terminal approved in 1989 and completed in 1991, adding a second pier added for use by smaller regional airlines.