Nonstop flight route between Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia and Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from DRW to MMQ:
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- About this route
- DRW Airport Information
- MMQ Airport Information
- Facts about DRW
- Facts about MMQ
- Map of Nearest Airports to DRW
- List of Nearest Airports to DRW
- Map of Furthest Airports from DRW
- List of Furthest Airports from DRW
- Map of Nearest Airports to MMQ
- List of Nearest Airports to MMQ
- Map of Furthest Airports from MMQ
- List of Furthest Airports from MMQ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Darwin International Airport (DRW), Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia and Mbala Airport (MMQ), Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,722 miles (or 10,818 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 Darwin International Airport and Mbala 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 Darwin International Airport and Mbala Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | DRW / YPDN |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 12°24'52"S by 130°52'36"E |
Area Served: | Darwin, Northern Territory |
Operator/Owner: | Darwin International Airport Pty Ltd (DIA) / RAAF Darwin |
Airport Type: | Military/Public |
Elevation: | 103 feet (31 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from DRW |
More Information: | DRW Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MMQ / FLBA |
Airport Name: | Mbala Airport |
Location: | Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia |
GPS Coordinates: | 8°51'29"S by 31°19'59"E |
Area Served: | Mbala |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5454 feet (1,662 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from MMQ |
More Information: | MMQ Maps & Info |
Facts about Darwin International Airport (DRW):
- Because of Darwin International Airport's relatively low elevation of 103 feet, planes can take off or land at Darwin International 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.
- Darwin International Airport (DRW) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Darwin International Airport (DRW) is Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), which is located 11,867 miles (19,099 kilometers) away in Cayenne, French Guiana.
- Until they were withdrawn from service, Concorde made sporadic visits to Darwin as well, having one of the few runways long enough in Australia to handle them.
- Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin in 1974 and flattened the city.
- Darwin International Airport handled 1,743,734 passengers last year.
- In addition to being known as "Darwin International Airport", another name for DRW is "RAAF Base Darwin".
- The closest airport to Darwin International Airport (DRW) is Bathurst Island Airport (BRT), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) NNW of DRW.
- In 2011 the airport served 26,036 flights and 1,743,734 passengers.
- Darwin Airport has an international terminal, a domestic terminal and a cargo terminal.
- During the 2009–10 financial year there was a total of 1,569,007 passengers which consisted of 207,825 international passengers and 1,361,182 domestic passengers, up 2.0%.
Facts about Mbala Airport (MMQ):
- Mbala Airport (MMQ) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Mbala Airport (MMQ) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,674 miles (18,788 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
- The closest airport to Mbala Airport (MMQ) is Kasaba Bay Airport (ZKB), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) WNW of MMQ.
- Because of Mbala Airport's high elevation of 5,454 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MMQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MMQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.