Nonstop flight route between Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Sugar Land, Texas (near Houston), United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melbourne Airport (MEL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR), Sugar Land, Texas (near Houston), United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,972 miles (or 14,440 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 Sugar Land 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 Sugar Land 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):

• Before the opening of Melbourne Airport, Melbourne's main airport was Essendon Airport which was officially designated an international airport in 1950.
• In 1959 the Commonwealth Government acquired 5,300 ha of grassland in then-rural Tullamarine.
• Terminal 2 handles all international flights out of Melbourne Airport and the city and opened with the airport in 1970.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 1 July 1970, Melbourne Airport was opened to international operations by Prime Minister John Gorton, ending Essendon's near 2-decade run as Melbourne International Airport.
• Melbourne Airport handled 2,998,000 passengers last year.
• 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.
• Terminal 4 – originally called the Domestic Express or South Terminal – is dedicated to budget airlines and is the first facility of its kind at a conventional airport in Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Melbourne Airport", another name for MEL is "Tullamarine Airport".

Facts about Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR):

• Because of Sugar Land Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 82 feet, planes can take off or land at Sugar Land Regional 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.
• Stanford Aviation Terminal
• The closest airport to Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR) is Andrau Airpark (AAP), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NE of SGR.
• The airport today serves the area's general aviation aircraft serving corporate, governmental, and private clientele.
• The furthest airport from Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,990 miles (17,687 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR) currently has only 1 runway.