Nonstop flight route between Mackay, Queensland, Australia and Jacksonville, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mackay Airport (MKY), Mackay, Queensland, Australia and NAS Jacksonville (NIP), Jacksonville, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,235 miles (or 14,862 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 Mackay Airport and NAS Jacksonville, 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 Mackay Airport and NAS Jacksonville. 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 Mackay Airport (MKY):

• Mackay Airport (MKY) has 2 runways.
• In 1938, the airport held an airshow featuring ten aircraft, which attracted over 8,000 spectators.
• Mackay Airport handled 1,049,172 passengers last year.
• In January 2010, Auckland International Airport Limited, announced plans to purchase almost 25 per cent of North Queensland Airports, operator of the airports at Cairns and Mackay, for about $167 million.
• Mackay Airport had grass landing strips until 1940, when the Commonwealth Government extended the airport's boundaries and upgraded the runways to unsealed gravel for use during World War II.
• The closest airport to Mackay Airport (MKY) is Great Barrier Reef Airport (HTI), which is located 58 miles (94 kilometers) NNW of MKY.
• The furthest airport from Mackay Airport (MKY) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,973 miles (19,269 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• Because of Mackay Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Mackay 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 NAS Jacksonville (NIP):

• In addition to being known as "NAS Jacksonville", another name for NIP is "Towers Field".
• The furthest airport from NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,460 miles (18,444 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• NAS Jacksonville is also an Aviation Maintenance training facility for several aviation ratings, facilitated by Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jacksonville.
• The closest airport to NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (CRG), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NE of NIP.
• Because of NAS Jacksonville's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at NAS Jacksonville 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.
• In March 1959, Marine Attack Squadron ONE FOUR TWO of the Marine Corps Reserve relocated to NAS Jacksonville from the closing MCAS Miami, along with the associated Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment.
• NAS Jacksonville (NIP) has 2 runways.
• Force reductions in the 1990s and early 2000s eliminated several P-3C squadrons and SH-60F/HH-60H squadrons at NAS Jacksonville, while the BRAC-directed closure of nearby NAS Cecil Field resulted in the relocation of Sea Control Wing ONE and its multiple Sea Control Squadrons operating the S-3 Viking until that aircraft's retirement from the active Fleet in 2008.
• NAS Jacksonville continued growing throughout the late 1940s.
• During the late 1940s, the jet age was dawning and in 1948 the Navy’s first jet carrier air groups and squadrons came to NAS Jacksonville.