Nonstop flight route between Heraklion, Crete, Greece and Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER), Heraklion, Crete, Greece and Rottnest Airport (RTS), Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,470 miles (or 12,022 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 Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” and Rottnest 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 Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” and Rottnest 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 Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER):

• Because of Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis”'s relatively low elevation of 115 feet, planes can take off or land at Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” 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.
• At first, the airport only offered very basic service, with only primitive installations on the site, in the form of three tents, smoke for wind determination and storm lamps for runway lighting.
• It is often requested by airlines that passengers do not take any photographs or video of the runway.
• The closest airport to Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER) is Sitia Airport (JSH), which is located 53 miles (85 kilometers) E of HER.
• The furthest airport from Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,521 miles (18,541 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• The airport first opened in March 1939.
• Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis”", another name for HER is "Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Ηρακλείου “Νίκος Καζαντζάκης”".

Facts about Rottnest Airport (RTS):

• The airport opened in November 1930 and has been used regularly since then for private and small commercial operations, ferrying workers and holiday makers between Perth and the island.
• Rottnest Airport (RTS) currently has only 1 runway.
• Rottnest Airlines operated the service until 1999 when it was taken over by Frank Stynman who operates a four and six-seater daily service from Jandakot called Rottnest Air-Taxi.
• Because of Rottnest Airport's relatively low elevation of 12 feet, planes can take off or land at Rottnest 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.
• MacRobertson Miller Airlines took over services after Wood's Airways using both DC-3 and Fokker F27 Friendship, until the route became uneconomical.
• The closest airport to Rottnest Airport (RTS) is Jandakot Airport (JAD), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) ESE of RTS.
• At one stage, the 32 km Perth to Rottnest flight was the world's shortest scheduled air route.
• Woods Airways which was run by pioneer aviator Jimmy Woods, operated the Perth to Rottnest service from about 1948 with two war-surplus Royal Australian Air Force Avro Anson aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Rottnest Airport (RTS) is L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA), which is nearly antipodal to Rottnest Airport (meaning Rottnest Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from L.F. Wade International Airport), and is located 12,409 miles (19,970 kilometers) away in Ferry Reach (near Hamilton), Bermuda.