Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Lawton, Oklahoma, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Lawton–Fort Sill Regional Airport (LAW), Lawton, Oklahoma, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,968 miles (or 14,432 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 Lawton–Fort Sill 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 Lawton–Fort Sill 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):

• The closest airport to Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Essendon Airport (MEB), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of MEL.
• Since privatisation, further improvements to infrastructure have begun at the airport, including expansion of runways, car parks and terminals.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine Airport".
• In 1959 the Commonwealth Government acquired 5,300 ha of grassland in then-rural Tullamarine.
• Before the opening of Melbourne Airport, Melbourne's main airport was Essendon Airport which was officially designated an international airport in 1950.
• 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.
• Terminal 2 handles all international flights out of Melbourne Airport and the city and opened with the airport in 1970.
• Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.

Facts about Lawton–Fort Sill Regional Airport (LAW):

• McDonnell Douglas MD-83
• The furthest airport from Lawton–Fort Sill Regional Airport (LAW) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,924 miles (17,581 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Lawton–Fort Sill Regional Airport (LAW) is Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) N of LAW.
• The 2013 Federal sequester will result in the closure of the airport's control tower and will require pilots to rely on air traffic controllers from other area airports.
• Lawton–Fort Sill Regional Airport (LAW) currently has only 1 runway.