Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from MEL to RTS:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- MEL Airport Information
- RTS Airport Information
- Facts about MEL
- Facts about RTS
- Map of Nearest Airports to MEL
- List of Nearest Airports to MEL
- Map of Furthest Airports from MEL
- List of Furthest Airports from MEL
- Map of Nearest Airports to RTS
- List of Nearest Airports to RTS
- Map of Furthest Airports from RTS
- List of Furthest Airports from RTS
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Rottnest Airport (RTS), Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,700 miles (or 2,736 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 relatively short distance between Melbourne Airport and Rottnest Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | MEL / YMML |
| Airport Names: |
|
| Location: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| GPS Coordinates: | 37°40'23"S by 144°50'35"E |
| Area Served: | Melbourne |
| Operator/Owner: | Australia Pacific Airports Corporation Limited |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 434 feet (132 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from MEL |
| More Information: | MEL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | RTS / YRTI |
| Airport Name: | Rottnest Airport |
| Location: | Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia |
| GPS Coordinates: | 32°0'24"S by 115°32'22"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Rottnest Island Authority |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 12 feet (4 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from RTS |
| More Information: | RTS Maps & Info |
Facts about Melbourne Airport (MEL):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Melbourne Airport (MEL) has 2 runways.
- Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
- 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.
- Although described as a satellite terminal, the terminal building is connected by an above-ground corridor to Terminal 2.
Facts about Rottnest Airport (RTS):
- Because of Rottnest Airport's relatively low elevation of 12 feet, planes can take off or land at Rottnest 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 furthest airport from Rottnest Airport (RTS) is L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA), which is nearly antipodal to Rottnest Airport (meaning Rottnest Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from L.F. Wade International Airport), and is located 12,409 miles (19,970 kilometers) away in Ferry Reach (near Hamilton), Bermuda.
- Rottnest Airlines operated the service until 1999 when it was taken over by Frank Stynman who operates a four and six-seater daily service from Jandakot called Rottnest Air-Taxi.
- Woods Airways which was run by pioneer aviator Jimmy Woods, operated the Perth to Rottnest service from about 1948 with two war-surplus Royal Australian Air Force Avro Anson aircraft.
- Other services continued after Woods Airways departed and at various stages facilities were upgraded.
- Rottnest Airport (RTS) currently has only 1 runway.
- Rottnest Island Airport is a small airport for light aircraft, situated about 800 m from the main settlement at Thomson Bay, Rottnest Island and 10 nautical miles northwest of Fremantle.
- The closest airport to Rottnest Airport (RTS) is Jandakot Airport (JAD), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) ESE of RTS.
- Woods Airways VH-WAB, c.1953
- At one stage, the 32 km Perth to Rottnest flight was the world's shortest scheduled air route.
