Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Ngari Gunsa Airport (NGQ), Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,374 miles (or 10,258 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 Ngari Gunsa 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 Ngari Gunsa 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 May 1959 it was announced that a new airport would be built at Tullamarine, with Prime Minister Robert Menzies announcing on 27 November 1962 a five-year plan to provide Melbourne with a A$45 million "jetport" by 1967.
• Today, a wide range of shops and food outlets are situated at the end of the terminal near the entrance into Terminal 2.
• 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.
• The search for a replacement for Essendon commenced in February 1958, when a panel was appointed to assess Melbourne's civil aviation needs.
• Melbourne Airport is served by four hotels.
• Melbourne Airport (MEL) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• A$330 million expansion programme for Terminal 2 was announced in 2007.
• Expansion of carparks has also continued with a $40 million project commenced in 2004, doubling the size of the short term carpark with the addition of 2,500 spaces over six levels, along with 1,200 new spaces added to the 5,000 already available in the long term carpark.
• In 2003, Melbourne received the International Air Transport Association Eagle Award for service and two National Tourism Awards for tourism services.
• Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine 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.

Facts about Ngari Gunsa Airport (NGQ):

• In addition to being known as "Ngari Gunsa Airport", other names for NGQ include "阿里昆莎机场ལྷ་ས་གོང་དཀར་རྫོང་" and "Ālǐ Kūnshā Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Ngari Gunsa Airport (NGQ) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,774 miles (18,948 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The closest airport to Ngari Gunsa Airport (NGQ) is Bhuntar Airport (KUU), which is located 171 miles (275 kilometers) W of NGQ.
• Because of Ngari Gunsa Airport's high elevation of 14,022 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at NGQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make NGQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.