Nonstop flight route between Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gold Coast Airport (OOL), Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,501 miles (or 15,290 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 Gold Coast 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 Gold Coast 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 Gold Coast Airport (OOL):

• Gold Coast Airport handled 5,261,773 passengers last year.
• Because of Gold Coast Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Gold Coast 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.
• 2010 saw Jetstar announce the airport as its newest hub, increased services to Cairns and new direct services to Perth and Queenstown.
• Gold Coast Airport (OOL) has 2 runways.
• By 1958 the taxiways and runways were fully paved, with the latter being upgraded a decade later to allow jet operations with DC-9 and L-188 Electra aircraft to begin.
• On 16 May 2007, the runway extension was officially inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport, the Hon Mark Vaile MP.
• On 1 January 1988 the airport ownership was transferred from the government to the Federal Airports Corporation.
• The furthest airport from Gold Coast Airport (OOL) is La Palma Airport (SPC), which is located 11,905 miles (19,159 kilometers) away in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.
• The closest airport to Gold Coast Airport (OOL) is Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK), which is located 46 miles (75 kilometers) S of OOL.
• In 1990 the airport welcomed its first international charter service from New Zealand, and by 1999 Air New Zealand low-cost subsidiary Freedom Air started scheduled no-frills service from Hamilton, New Zealand with Boeing 737s.
• On 11 December 2013 Jetstar announced that they will end the three times weekly services to Osaka-Kansai on 8 May 2014.

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• A significant and recurring operational criticism of Sofia Airport has concerned its historical lack of all-weather operations capability.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• A lot of consideration has been given to the design of the layout, the functional definition of the working positions, the operations room surface area for ANS provision and meteorological observation, as well as to the requirements for visibility to the runway and the approaches and access to an open observation platform.
• Service life of the new airport control tower will be more than 40 years and is designed to serve the airport with a possible extension.
• Contract for detailed design and construction of a new control tower of the airport and forming an ATM Glavbolgarstroy.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• Lufthansa Technik Sofia was founded in late 2007 as a joint venture between Lufthansa Technik and the Bulgarian Aviation Group.