Nonstop flight route between Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia and Columbus, Mississippi, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Great Barrier Reef Airport (HTI), Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia and Columbus Air Force Base (CBM), Columbus, Mississippi, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,832 miles (or 14,214 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 Great Barrier Reef Airport and Columbus Air Force Base, 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 Great Barrier Reef Airport and Columbus Air Force Base. 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 Great Barrier Reef Airport (HTI):

• *Sydney route included from July 2009
• Because of Great Barrier Reef Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Great Barrier Reef 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 airport suffered heavily in September 2001 with the demise of Ansett Australia, which operated more heavily out of the airport than any other airline with flights to Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
• The closest airport to Great Barrier Reef Airport (HTI) is Whitsunday Airport (WSY), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) WNW of HTI.
• Great Barrier Reef Airport handled 457,641 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Great Barrier Reef Airport (HTI) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,990 miles (19,297 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• Great Barrier Reef Airport (HTI) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Great Barrier Reef Airport", another name for HTI is "Hamilton Island".

Facts about Columbus Air Force Base (CBM):

• The installation's history began 26 June 1941, when the War Department approved establishment of an Army Air Field for the Columbus, Mississippi area.
• About half the pilots in the Air Force today went through basic and primary flight training at Columbus AFB.
• The furthest airport from Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,088 miles (17,844 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Columbus-Lowndes County Airport (UBS), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSE of CBM.
• Columbus was initially assigned to the AAF Southeast Training Center with the Army Air Force Pilot School activated.
• Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi is home of the 14th Flying Training Wing of the Air Education and Training Command.
• During their involvement in the Vietnam War, the 454th Combat Support Group operated Columbus AFB.
• In addition to being known as "Columbus Air Force Base", another name for CBM is "Columbus AFB".
• With the end of World War II, Columbus AAF was first placed on "reduced activity status", and was inactivated on 15 August 1946.
• The base began an active four-year rebuilding program to prepare the base for its new mission and to be part of SAC's base dispersal system.
• The Columbus flying school received its first aircraft, nine Beech AT-10s and twenty-one AT-8s in early 1942.