Nonstop flight route between Mascot (near Sydney), Australia and Gweru, Zimbabwe:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia and Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE), Gweru, Zimbabwe would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,100 miles (or 11,426 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 Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport and Gweru-Thornhill Air Base, 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 Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport and Gweru-Thornhill Air Base. 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 Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD):

• In 2002, the Australian Government sold Sydney Airports Corporation Limited, the management authority for the airport, to Southern Cross Airports Corporation Holdings Ltd.
• Terminal 2, located in the airport's north-eastern section, was the former home of Ansett Australia's domestic operations.
• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• 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 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.
• Terminal 3 is a domestic terminal, serving Qantas with QantasLink flights having moved their operations from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 on 16 August 2013 Originally, it was home for Trans Australia Airlines.

Facts about Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE):

• The closest airport to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Masvingo Airport (MVZ), which is located 78 miles (125 kilometers) ESE of GWE.
• The furthest airport from Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (meaning Gweru-Thornhill Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,117 miles (19,500 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) has 2 runways.
• Because of Gweru-Thornhill Air Base's high elevation of 4,680 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GWE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GWE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.