Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,547 miles (or 16,974 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 Melbourne Airport and RAF Brize Norton, 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 Melbourne Airport and RAF Brize Norton. 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 Melbourne Airport (MEL):

• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine Airport".
• Expansion of carparks has also continued with a $40 million project commenced in 2004, doubling the size of the short term carpark with the addition of 2,500 spaces over six levels, along with 1,200 new spaces added to the 5,000 already available in the long term carpark.
• Because of Melbourne Airport's relatively low elevation of 434 feet, planes can take off or land at Melbourne 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 furthest airport from Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Melbourne Airport (meaning Melbourne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,187 miles (19,613 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Melbourne Airport (MEL) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Essendon Airport (MEB), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of MEL.
• Construction works were undertaken to prepare the airport for the arrival of the double-decker Airbus A380.
• Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
• A$330 million expansion programme for Terminal 2 was announced in 2007.
• Today, a wide range of shops and food outlets are situated at the end of the terminal near the entrance into Terminal 2.
• In 1959 the Commonwealth Government acquired 5,300 ha of grassland in then-rural Tullamarine.

Facts about RAF Brize Norton (BZZ):

• Brize Norton is already a major airbase for the RAF's transport fleet.
• The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.
• A peace camp was held at the station from 21 to 25 April 2005, along with a demonstration in nearby Carterton.
• The station is home to Air Transport, Air-to-Air refuelling and Military Parachuting, with aircraft operating from the station including the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and Airbus A330 MRTT Voyager which replaced the now decommissioned Lockheed TriStar in March 2014.
• On 12 August 2006, campaigners restricted access at the main entrance for several hours in a protest against British policy in the Middle East.
• On 23 May 2001 the RAF's first C-17 arrived at Brize Norton, one of six to be delivered to 99 Squadron.
• 101 Squadron reformed at Brize Norton on 1 May 1984, it previously operated the Avro Vulcan and participated in the Operation Black Buck missions of the Falklands War.
• Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about 65 mi west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force.
• In 1970 two squadrons 99 Squadron and 511 Squadron operating the Bristol Britannia moved from RAF Lyneham.
• The furthest airport from RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,888 miles (19,132 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• By March 2011, 70 buildings had been refurbished on the station.