Nonstop flight route between Sofia, Bulgaria and Melbourne, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria and Melbourne International Airport (MLB), Melbourne, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,574 miles (or 8,971 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Melbourne International 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Melbourne International 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• The manager will have full visibility over the airport, to guide aircraft landing and taking off.
• The new Sofia tower will be situated to the west of Terminal 2 and will be complementing the terminal building in architectural terms.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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".
• Total cost of the project was planned at 200 million euros.
• 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.
• By the late 1970s, the terminal was handling in the region of three million passengers a year, a million of them on domestic routes.

Facts about Melbourne International Airport (MLB):

• Airmail service started in late 1928 when the airport was designated a fueling stop.
• In 2010 the airport had non-stop flights to Atlanta on Delta Air Lines and regional partner Atlantic Southeast Airlines, as well as non-stops to Charlotte Douglas International Airport on US Airways' regional subsidiary PSA Airlines.
• In January 1951 the airport had runways 4, 9, 13, and 16, all 4,000 to 4,300 feet long.
• The furthest airport from Melbourne International Airport (MLB) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,549 miles (18,586 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The Melbourne Airport Authority operates Tropical Haven, a 759-site manufactured home park.
• The Florida Institute of Technology Research, Science and Technology Park covers about 100 acres surrounded by airport tenants such as Northrop Grumman Joint Stars, G.E Railway, Rockwell Collins, DRS Technologies, and L-3, and leases property to two hospitals and one hotel.
• Melbourne International Airport began in 1928 when a Pitcairn Aircraft landed on a cow pasture strip north of Kissimmee Highway.
• In the early 1980s some ending scenes for the film Stranger Than Paradise were shot in the Melbourne area, including several plot scenes shot at the Airport.
• Because of Melbourne International Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Melbourne International 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.
• Melbourne International Airport (MLB) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Melbourne International Airport (MLB) is Patrick Air Force Base (COF), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) NNE of MLB.