Nonstop flight route between Essex (near London), England, United Kingdom and Shellharbour, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between London Stansted Airport (STN), Essex (near London), England, United Kingdom and Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL), Shellharbour, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,554 miles (or 16,984 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 London Stansted Airport and Illawarra Regional 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 London Stansted Airport and Illawarra Regional 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 London Stansted Airport (STN):

• In 1984, the government approved a plan to develop Stansted in two phases, involving both airfield and terminal improvements that would increase the airport's capacity to 15 million passengers per year.
• Long-haul services to the USA returned in late 2005, when Eos Airlines and MAXjet Airways commenced all-business-class services from Stansted to New York-JFK Airport.
• London Stansted Airport (STN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The top international destinations served by Stansted airport are in Ireland, Italy, Poland and Spain.
• The closest airport to London Stansted Airport (STN) is MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) ENE of STN.
• From 1997 to 2007 Stansted saw rapid expansion of passenger numbers on the back of the boom in low cost air travel, peaking at 24 million passengers in the 12 months to October 2007, but passenger numbers declined for the subsequent five years to 2012.
• The furthest airport from London Stansted Airport (STN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,858 miles (19,084 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The Competition Commission ruled in March 2009 that BAA should sell Gatwick and Stansted Airports within two years.
• Stansted is a major freight airport, the third busiest in the UK during 2013, behind London Heathrow and East Midlands Airport, handling in excess of 210,000 tonnes per annum, although freight throughput has declined slightly from its 2005 peak level.
• Because of London Stansted Airport's relatively low elevation of 348 feet, planes can take off or land at London Stansted 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.
• London Stansted Airport handled 17,852,393 passengers last year.

Facts about Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL):

• The Illawarra Regional Airport provides a cost effective alternative to the Sydney Basin airports for light aircraft users.
• In addition to being known as "Illawarra Regional Airport", another name for WOL is "Wollongong Airport".
• The furthest airport from Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is nearly antipodal to Illawarra Regional Airport (meaning Illawarra Regional Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Horta International Airport), and is located 12,162 miles (19,573 kilometers) away in Horta, Azores, Portugal.
• Because of Illawarra Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 31 feet, planes can take off or land at Illawarra Regional 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 closest airport to Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL) is Camden Aerodrome (CDU), which is located 36 miles (59 kilometers) N of WOL.
• The primary runway is 16/34, with a paved surface measuring 1,819 m × 30 m.
• Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL) has 2 runways.