Nonstop flight route between Homestead, Florida, United States and Mackay, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST), Homestead, Florida, United States and Mackay Airport (MKY), Mackay, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,296 miles (or 14,960 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 Homestead Air Reserve Base and Mackay 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 Homestead Air Reserve Base and Mackay 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 Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST):

• During this period of time the base was under two commands.
• In addition to being known as "Homestead Air Reserve Base", another name for HST is "Homestead ARB".
• On 25 October 1945, following an evaluation of the damage caused by the storm, officials announced that Homestead AAF would shut down, with a target date for complete closure of December 1945.
• Within a year, the 19th Bomb Wing was transferred to Homestead on 1 June 1956 from Pinecastle AFB, Florida.
• The host unit at Homestead is the 482d Fighter Wing assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command's Tenth Air Force.
• The closest airport to Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST) is Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport (TMB), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNW of HST.
• The furthest airport from Homestead Air Reserve Base (HST) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,568 miles (18,616 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• As the need for trained transport pilots grew during 1943, officials in Washington decided to beef up the training program at Homestead.
• Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Army Air Forces officials decided the site would better serve defense needs as a maintenance stopover point for aircraft being ferried to the Caribbean and North Africa.

Facts about Mackay Airport (MKY):

• The closest airport to Mackay Airport (MKY) is Great Barrier Reef Airport (HTI), which is located 58 miles (94 kilometers) NNW of MKY.
• In January 2010, Auckland International Airport Limited, announced plans to purchase almost 25 per cent of North Queensland Airports, operator of the airports at Cairns and Mackay, for about $167 million.
• The furthest airport from Mackay Airport (MKY) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,973 miles (19,269 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• Despite the collapse of airlines Ansett Australia and Flight West Airlines in 2001, Mackay Airport has experienced considerable growth in recent years, due to the use of the airport by Virgin Australia and the expansion of QantasLink services, and handles over 620,000 passengers through the terminal per annum but that has slowed and the airport is up for sale.
• Mackay Airport located in Mackay, Queensland, Australia is a major Australian regional airport that services the city of Mackay, with flights to the cities of Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns.
• Mackay Airport had grass landing strips until 1940, when the Commonwealth Government extended the airport's boundaries and upgraded the runways to unsealed gravel for use during World War II.
• In 1938, the airport held an airshow featuring ten aircraft, which attracted over 8,000 spectators.
• Mackay Airport handled 1,049,172 passengers last year.
• Because of Mackay Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Mackay 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.
• Mackay Airport (MKY) has 2 runways.