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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo (HDO), Hondo, Texas, United States and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,369 miles (or 13,468 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 South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo 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 South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo 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 South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo (HDO):

• In 1957 a golf course was constructed on the base through the efforts of base commander Lt Col Earl V.
• The closest airport to South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo (HDO) is Garner Field (UVA), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) WSW of HDO.
• The airport has its origins in 1942 with the establishment by the Army Air Corps of Hondo Army Airfield, and was used as a Navigator training base.
• South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo covers an area of 3,500 acres at an elevation of 930 feet above mean sea level.
• The furthest airport from South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo (HDO) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,157 miles (17,955 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo's relatively low elevation of 930 feet, planes can take off or land at South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo 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.
• South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo (HDO) has 4 runways.

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

• In December 2011, Sydney Airport announced a proposal to divide the airport into two airline-alliance-based precincts.
• 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 being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• 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.
• The airport provides a shuttle service between the terminals at a cost of A$5.50.
• 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 1995 the Australian Parliament passed the Sydney Airport Curfew Act 1995, which limits the operating hours of the 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.
• The Darwin – Sydney route includes data from May 2012, prior data was not released.
• The "third runway" which the Commonwealth government commenced development of in 1989 and completed in 1994, remained controversial because of increased aircraftmovements, especially over many inner suburbs.