Nonstop flight route between Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST), Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,348 miles (or 16,653 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 Maastricht Aachen 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 Maastricht Aachen 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 Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST):

• The furthest airport from Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,935 miles (19,207 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Maastricht Aachen Airport handled 36,300 passengers last year.
• Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Maastricht Aachen Airport's relatively low elevation of 375 feet, planes can take off or land at Maastricht Aachen 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.
• In July 2004, a 100% share in the airport was acquired by OmDV, a consortium of airport investment company Omniport and the construction company Dura Vermeer, making it the first fully privatised airport in the Netherlands.
• Plans for an airport in southern Limburg date back as far as 1919, with various locations being considered.
• An ILS system, which allows landings in poor weather, was built in 1967, for runway 22 only.
• The first unit to be based at the field was the 31st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, flying the F-6, a reconnaissance version of the P-51 Mustang.
• The late 1950s and early 1960s brought significant expansion in commercial operations at the airport.
• Domestic travel picked up as well, and newly created NLM CityHopper started to operate a service between Maastricht and Amsterdam Schiphol in 1966.
• The closest airport to Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) is NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) ENE of MST.

Facts about Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (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 new terminal was officially opened on 3 May 1970, by Queen Elizabeth II.
• The dedicated Freight Terminal is located north of Terminal 1.
• The closest airport to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Bankstown Airport (BWU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of SYD.
• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• 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.
• In March 2010, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released a report sharply critical of price gouging at Sydney airport, ranking it fifth out of five airports.
• The Darwin – Sydney route includes data from May 2012, prior data was not released.
• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".