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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,451 miles (or 16,819 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 Mildenhall, 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 Mildenhall. 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):

• Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
• Terminal 2 handles all international flights out of Melbourne Airport and the city and opened with the airport in 1970.
• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine Airport".
• 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 airport is 23 km from the city centre.
• In 2003, Melbourne received the International Air Transport Association Eagle Award for service and two National Tourism Awards for tourism services.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about RAF Mildenhall (MHZ):

• The closest airport to RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) NE of MHZ.
• The furthest airport from RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,829 miles (19,037 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• RAF Mildenhall and its sister base RAF Lakenheath have the largest United States Air Force presence in the United Kingdom.
• RAF Mildenhall hosts units from four different major USAF commands – Air Combat Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Mobility Command and United States Air Forces in Europe.
• Closed for runway repairs throughout 1958, the Military Air Transport Service transferred its main United Kingdom terminal to Mildenhall from RAF Burtonwood on 1 March 1959, and the base became "The Gateway to the United Kingdom", for most U.S.
• The present 488th Intelligence Squadron traces its lineage back to the 6954th Security Squadron which was originally designated Detachment 1 of the 6985th Security Squadron at RAF Upper Heyford, England, in June 1967.
• The 501st Combat Support Wing was activated at RAF Mildenhall on 21 May 2005.
• The 727 AMS is part of AMC's en route system that provides fixed and deployed maintenance, aerial port and command and control support to deployed command forces across the globe.