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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), Abilene, Texas, United States and Cairns Airport (CNS), Cairns, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,242 miles (or 13,265 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 Dyess Air Force Base and Cairns 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 Dyess Air Force Base and Cairns 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 Dyess Air Force Base (DYS):

• Since 1961, various models of C-130 Hercules aircraft have been stationed at Dyess AFB.
• Dyess AFB is a 6,409-acre base with over 13,000 military and civilian people.
• The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force.
• In 1942, the United States Army Air Forces built Tye Army Air Field, as it was popularly known, on the site of what is now known as Dyess AFB.
• Dyess' first active combat unit was the 341st Bombardment Wing, which activated on 1 September 1955.
• In addition to being known as "Dyess Air Force Base", another name for DYS is "Dyess AFB".
• The closest airport to Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DYS.
• The furthest airport from Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,080 miles (17,831 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Cairns Airport (CNS):

• 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.
• Cairns Airport is an international airport in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
• Cairns Airport (CNS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Cairns Airport (CNS) is Mareeba Airfield (MRG), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) WSW of CNS.
• Ranks are located near both the International and Domestic Terminals.
• Cairns Airport handled 3,848,728 passengers last year.
• The airport has two passenger terminals on the eastern side of the airport on reclaimed mangrove swamp.
• 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.
• During the 1970s, Australia's two domestic airlines Trans Australia Airlines and Ansett provided regular scheduled services to most Australian capital cities and also Papua New Guinea, while in 1975 Air Niugini became the first international airline to commence flights out of Cairns, to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.