Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Tôlanaro, Madagascar:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), Tôlanaro, Madagascar would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,581 miles (or 8,982 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 Tôlanaro 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 Tôlanaro 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):

• The closest airport to Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Essendon Airport (MEB), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of MEL.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine Airport".
• 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.
• An expansion of the terminal was approved in 1989 and completed in 1991 when a second pier was added by Ansett to the south for use by smaller regional airline Kendell.
• Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
• Widening of the main north–south runway by 15 m was completed over a 29-day period in May 2005, enabling the operation of the Airbus A380.
• The search for a replacement for Essendon commenced in February 1958, when a panel was appointed to assess Melbourne's civil aviation needs.
• 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 international terminal contains works by noted Australian Indigenous artists including Daisy Jugadai Napaltjarri and Gloria Petyarre.

Facts about Tôlanaro Airport (FTU):

• In addition to being known as "Tôlanaro Airport", another name for FTU is "Marillac Airport".
• The closest airport to Tôlanaro Airport (FTU) is Ampanihy Airport (AMP), which is located 141 miles (227 kilometers) W of FTU.
• Tôlanaro Airport (FTU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Tôlanaro Airport (FTU) is Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), which is located 11,435 miles (18,402 kilometers) away in Lompoc, California, United States.
• Because of Tôlanaro Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Tôlanaro 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.