Nonstop flight route between Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rochester Airport (RCS), Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom and Essendon Airport (MEB), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,474 miles (or 16,856 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 Rochester Airport and Essendon 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 Rochester Airport and Essendon 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 Rochester Airport (RCS):

• In 1934-5 Short Brothers took over the Rochester Airport site when they moved some of their personnel from the existing seaplane works.
• In 2013 the Conservative led Medway Council announced there wish for some of the airport land to be separated off and developed for Industrial use.
• Rochester Airport is an operational general aviation aerodrome located 1.5 nautical miles south of Rochester, Medway, South East England, with the River Medway 1.5 NM from the end of runway 34, 3.4 mi from Chatham and its Historic Dockyard and the Medway area.
• Rochester Airport (RCS) has 3 runways.
• Passenger flights to and from the continent expanded in the 1950s and 60's using Douglas DC-3s and de Havilland Doves operated by Channel Airways but with stringent requirement of the Civil Aviation Authority, operators had to re-locate from Rochester.
• The closest airport to Rochester Airport (RCS) is London Southend Airport (SEN), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) NNE of RCS.
• The furthest airport from Rochester Airport (RCS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,897 miles (19,146 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• On 13 January 2009 a fresh lease, with conditions, was granted to Rochester Airport Operating company.
• Because of Rochester Airport's relatively low elevation of 426 feet, planes can take off or land at Rochester 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 Essendon Airport (MEB):

• The area of the airport was originally known as St Johns, after an early landowner.
• Essendon Airport (MEB) has 2 runways.
• In 2007, the airport was re-designed under a new master plan, as part of the Essendon Fields development.
• The closest airport to Essendon Airport (MEB) is Melbourne Airport (MEL), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NW of MEB.
• Because of Essendon Airport's relatively low elevation of 282 feet, planes can take off or land at Essendon 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 major passenger airlines using Essendon in the postwar years until scheduled air services were transferred to Tullamarine were Ansett Airlines and Trans Australia Airlines.
• The furthest airport from Essendon Airport (MEB) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Essendon Airport (meaning Essendon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,192 miles (19,620 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• In addition to being known as "Essendon Airport", another name for MEB is "Melbourne/Essendon".