Nonstop flight route between Melfa, Virginia, United States and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Accomack County Airport (MFV), Melfa, Virginia, United States and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,821 miles (or 15,806 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 Accomack County Airport and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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 Accomack County Airport and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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 Accomack County Airport (MFV):

• The closest airport to Accomack County Airport (MFV) is Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NE of MFV.
• Accomack County Airport (MFV) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Accomack County Airport's relatively low elevation of 47 feet, planes can take off or land at Accomack County 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 airport was built by the United States Army Air Forces about 1942, and was known as Melfa Flight Strip.
• The furthest airport from Accomack County Airport (MFV) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,777 miles (18,953 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD):

• In September 2012, Sydney Airport CEO Kerrie Mather announced the airport had abandoned the proposal to create alliance-based terminals in favour of terminals "based around specific airline requirements and transfer flows".
• Because of Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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.
• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• Terminal 2, located in the airport's north-eastern section, was the former home of Ansett Australia's domestic operations.
• The closest airport to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Bankstown Airport (BWU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of SYD.
• The furthest airport from Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (meaning Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,144 miles (19,543 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• The limitations of having only two runways that crossed each other had become apparent and governments grappled with Sydney's airport capacity for decades.
• The issue of a second airport for Sydney arose again after the Rudd government was elected in 2007.
• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• Since the international terminal's original completion, it has undergone two large expansions.