Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Waterford, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Oakland County International Airport (PTK), Waterford, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,900 miles (or 15,933 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 Oakland County International 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 Oakland County International 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 international terminal contains works by noted Australian Indigenous artists including Daisy Jugadai Napaltjarri and Gloria Petyarre.
• Since privatisation, further improvements to infrastructure have begun at the airport, including expansion of runways, car parks and terminals.
• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine Airport".
• 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.
• 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.
• Before the opening of Melbourne Airport, Melbourne's main airport was Essendon Airport which was officially designated an international airport in 1950.
• Melbourne Airport was originally called Tullamarine Airport, after the adjacent suburb of the same name.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Melbourne Airport (MEL) is Essendon Airport (MEB), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of MEL.
• Melbourne is the second busiest airport in Australia.
• Melbourne Airport (MEL) has 2 runways.

Facts about Oakland County International Airport (PTK):

• Because of Oakland County International Airport's relatively low elevation of 981 feet, planes can take off or land at Oakland County International 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.
• Oakland County International Airport (PTK) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Oakland County International Airport (PTK) is Bishop International Airport (FNT), which is located 26 miles (43 kilometers) NW of PTK.
• The furthest airport from Oakland County International Airport (PTK) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,269 miles (18,136 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In March 2013 Lakeshore Express Aviation announced regular flights from Oakland County International Airport to Chicago-Midway on Saab 340B aircraft beginning in June.