Nonstop flight route between Heraklion, Crete, Greece and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER), Heraklion, Crete, Greece and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,405 miles (or 15,135 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 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 Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis”", another name for HER is "Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Ηρακλείου “Νίκος Καζαντζάκης”".
• Heraklion International Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER) has 2 runways.
• Annual passenger throughput - 11 year history
• It is often requested by airlines that passengers do not take any photographs or video of the runway.

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

• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• By the 1960s the need for a new international terminal had become apparent, and work commenced in late 1966.
• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• 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.
• Terminal 1 was opened on 3 May 1970, replacing the old Overseas Passenger Terminal and has been greatly expanded since then.
• In September 2012, Sydney Airport CEO Kerrie Mather announced the airport had abandoned the proposal to create alliance-based terminals in favour of terminals "based around specific airline requirements and transfer flows".
• 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.
• In 1933 the first gravel runways were built.
• The Darwin – Sydney route includes data from May 2012, prior data was not released.
• 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 2002, the Australian Government sold Sydney Airports Corporation Limited, the management authority for the airport, to Southern Cross Airports Corporation Holdings Ltd.
• The closest airport to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Bankstown Airport (BWU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of SYD.