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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Durango–La Plata County Airport (DRO), Durango, Colorado, United States and Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,561 miles (or 13,777 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 Durango–La Plata County 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 Durango–La Plata County 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 Durango–La Plata County Airport (DRO):

• The airport has three boarding gates, five plane stands, a pre-security restaurant and a gift shop.
• Because of Durango–La Plata County Airport's high elevation of 6,685 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at DRO. Combined with a high temperature, this could make DRO a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport.Federal Aviation Administration records say it had 134,386 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 148,077 in 2009 and 163,611 in 2010.
• Durango–La Plata County Airport (DRO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Durango–La Plata County Airport (DRO) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,121 miles (17,897 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Durango–La Plata County Airport (DRO) is Animas Air Park (AMK), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of DRO.

Facts about Melbourne Airport (MEL):

• 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.
• The closest airport to Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Essendon Airport (MEB), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of MEL.
• Widening of the main north–south runway by 15 m was completed over a 29-day period in May 2005, enabling the operation of the Airbus A380.
• 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.
• 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.
• Melbourne Airport (MEL) has 2 runways.
• Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
• Melbourne Airport was originally called Tullamarine Airport, after the adjacent suburb of the same name.