Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Flores Island, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Flores Airport (FLW), Flores Island, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,187 miles (or 19,613 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 Flores 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 Flores Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between MEL and FLW makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Melbourne Airport and Flores Airport would be very impractical for the airlines, because only a lightly loaded Boeing 777-200LR would be able to make the trip. Since airlines need to be able to take as many people and cargo as possible in order to make a profit, the odds of ever seeing a nonstop flight between MEL and FLW are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Flores Island, Azores, Portugal by taking some connecting flights!

Did you know that one full circling of the Earth (measuring from the equator) is about 24,901.5 miles (or 40,075 kilometers), which means if you were 12,450 miles from any given point on the planet, the distance back to your starting point would be about the same -- in any direction! The same can be said for a nonstop flight between MEL and FLW!

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".
• The international terminal contains works by noted Australian Indigenous artists including Daisy Jugadai Napaltjarri and Gloria Petyarre.
• On 1 July 1970, Melbourne Airport was opened to international operations by Prime Minister John Gorton, ending Essendon's near 2-decade run as Melbourne International Airport.
• Opened with Melbourne Airport in 1970 for Trans Australia Airlines, the terminal passed to Qantas in 1992 when they acquired the airline.
• Melbourne Airport (MEL) has 2 runways.
• 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 Southern Freighter Apron has five dedicated freighter parking positions which host 21 dedicated freighter operations a week.
• Today, a wide range of shops and food outlets are situated at the end of the terminal near the entrance into Terminal 2.
• 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 handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Essendon Airport (MEB), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of MEL.

Facts about Flores Airport (FLW):

• Because of Flores Airport's relatively low elevation of 108 feet, planes can take off or land at Flores 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.
• But, it was only in 1972 that an airport was inaugurated on the island of Flores.
• The furthest airport from Flores Airport (FLW) is Flinders Island Airport (FLS), which is nearly antipodal to Flores Airport (meaning Flores Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flinders Island Airport), and is located 12,373 miles (19,912 kilometers) away in Flinders Island, Tasmania, Australia.
• Flores Airport (FLW) currently has only 1 runway.
• Flores Airport handled 45,122 passengers last year.
• On 11 January 2013, a tender was issued by ANA Aeroportos to improve the accessbility within the airport, with installation of lifts, escalators and mechanical walkways, to be installed within the intervening five years.
• The closest airport to Flores Airport (FLW) is Corvo Airport (CVU), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) N of FLW.
• In addition to being known as "Flores Airport", another name for FLW is "Aeroporto das Flores".