Nonstop flight route between Del Rio, Texas, United States and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF), Del Rio, Texas, United States and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,281 miles (or 13,327 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 Laughlin Air Force Base 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 Laughlin Air Force Base 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 Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF):

• The furthest airport from Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,241 miles (18,091 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Aside from the reservoir outside of Del Rio for fishing and some lake diving, most forms of recreation are either in the town of Del Rio or across the border in Ciudad Acuña, however current DoD policy does not allow travel across the border for military personnel.
• The median income for a household on the base was $38,625, and the median income for a family was $38,625.
• Laughlin U-2s were among the first to provide photographic evidence of Soviet missile installations in Cuba in 1962 when 4080th U-2 pilot Major Steve Heyser flew his U-2C over Cuba after taking off from Edwards AFB, California.
• The closest airport to Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF) is Del Rio International Airport (DRT), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) W of DLF.
• The residential area of the base is a census-designated place, with a population of 1,569 at the 2010 census.
• The Air Force transferred jurisdiction of the base to the Strategic Air Command on April 1, 1957 and the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing moved there from Turner Air Force Base, Georgia.
• Park University offers onsite and online classes on base.

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

• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Bankstown Airport (BWU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of SYD.
• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• 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.
• 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 airport provides a shuttle service between the terminals at a cost of A$5.50.
• Sydney Airport is one of the oldest continuously operated airports in the world, and the busiest airport in Australia, handling 35,630,549 passengers in 2011 and 326,686 aircraftmovements in 2013.
• On 15 April 2014, the Federal Government announced that Badgerys Creek would be Sydney's second international airport, to be known as Western Sydney Airport.
• 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.