Nonstop flight route between Roanoke, Virginia, United States and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA), Roanoke, Virginia, United States and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,590 miles (or 15,433 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 Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional 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 Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional 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 Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA):

• Local residents and businesses sometimes complain about the airport's limited number of non-stop flights and lack of low priced fares.
• In addition to being known as "Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport", another name for ROA is "Woodrum Field".
• When facilities reached their maximum capacity, the need for upgrades became necessary for the airport to continue to grow.
• The closest airport to Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) is Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport (BCB), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) WSW of ROA.
• The furthest airport from Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,559 miles (18,603 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• By 1934, American Airlines began service to Roanoke, but they later moved their operations to Lynchburg in 1937 due to the poor conditions in Roanoke.
• Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) has 2 runways.
• In the period following the Piedmont-USAir merger, Roanoke has seen various carriers enter and exit the local market.
• The current terminal building was designed by the Charlotte based architectural firm of Odell Associates and was built to serve as a replacement for the 1953 terminal, later demolished in 2005.
• Throughout its history, Roanoke Regional Airport has had five separate control towers serve the airport.

Facts about Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD):

• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• Terminal 2, located in the airport's north-eastern section, was the former home of Ansett Australia's domestic operations.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• Sydney Airport had a fourth passenger terminal, east of Terminal 2.
• 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.
• The "third runway" which the Commonwealth government commenced development of in 1989 and completed in 1994, remained controversial because of increased aircraftmovements, especially over many inner suburbs.
• The airport provides a shuttle service between the terminals at a cost of A$5.50.
• The issue of a second airport for Sydney arose again after the Rudd government was elected in 2007.
• The closest airport to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Bankstown Airport (BWU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of SYD.