Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Decatur, Alabama, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU), Decatur, Alabama, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,577 miles (or 15,413 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 Pryor Field Regional 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 Melbourne Airport and Pryor Field Regional 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 Melbourne Airport (MEL):

• In 1988, the Australian Government formed the Federal Airports Corporation, placing Melbourne Airport under the operational control of the new corporation along with 21 other airports around the nation.
• Melbourne Airport was originally called Tullamarine Airport, after the adjacent suburb of the same name.
• 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 handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
• Melbourne Airport (MEL) has 2 runways.
• Terminal 3 – opened with the airport as the Ansett Australia terminal, but is now owned by Melbourne Airport.
• 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 closest airport to Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Essendon Airport (MEB), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of MEL.
• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine Airport".

Facts about Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU):

• Flying training was performed with Fairchild PT-19s as the primary trainer.
• The closest airport to Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU) is Huntsville International Airport (HSV), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DCU.
• Situated next to Calhoun Community College, the airport serves the western portion of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area and most of the Decatur Metropolitan Area.
• A newly built $1.8 million terminal building opened in 2008 at the north end of the field as part of a federally funded $3.3 million project.
• Because of Pryor Field Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 592 feet, planes can take off or land at Pryor Field Regional 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 Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,180 miles (17,992 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU) currently has only 1 runway.