Nonstop flight route between Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Newcastle Airport (NTL), Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,583 miles (or 15,423 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 Newcastle Airport and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna, 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 Newcastle Airport and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna. 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 Newcastle Airport (NTL):

• Scheduled services to the airport commenced in February 1948, with Trans Australia Airlines using DC-3 aircraft to service a Sydney–Newcastle–Brisbane route.
• The closest airport to Newcastle Airport (NTL) is Maitland Airport (MTL), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) WNW of NTL.
• Because of Newcastle Airport's relatively low elevation of 31 feet, planes can take off or land at Newcastle 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 1997, BAE Systems was awarded the contract for assembly and ongoing system support for the Hawk 127 Lead in Fighters for the Royal Australian Air Force.
• Newcastle Airport handled 1,211,302 passengers last year.
• Impulse Airlines, a regional airline and later one of Australia's first low cost airlines, established a base at the airport in the early 1990s, creating a maintenance facility.
• Newcastle Airport (NTL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The largest aircraft currently operating to Newcastle Airport are the Boeing 737-800s of Virgin Australia.
• Newcastle Airport is surrounded by Class C Airspace and has a control tower which is manned Monday to Friday, between the hours of 0800 – 2200.
• In addition to being known as "Newcastle Airport", other names for NTL include "RAAF Base Williamtown" and "Williamtown Airport".
• AirAsia X has investigated using Williamtown Airport for flights to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
• The furthest airport from Newcastle Airport (NTL) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Newcastle Airport (meaning Newcastle Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,102 miles (19,476 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• The passenger terminal building is designed with a capacity of 2,000 peak hour passengers or up to 2.6 million passengers a year, plus 26,000 tonnes of luggage.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In mid-2012 the airport will have one of the most modern and most beautiful airport towers in Europe.
• In 2004 Strabag demanded an additional 6 million euro due to rising steel prices.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• The new tower is an extremely important facility for both ATC and the airport because it is related to the safety and security of flights, explained by the transport department.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• The terminal had substantially reached its capacity of some 600,000 passengers a year by the later 1960s and was subjected to a number of refurbishments and extensions beginning in the spring of 1968.