Nonstop flight route between Mascot (near Sydney), Australia and Gaza, Palestine:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia and Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA), Gaza, Palestine would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,818 miles (or 14,192 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 Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED), 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 Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED). 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):

• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• In March 2010, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released a report sharply critical of price gouging at Sydney airport, ranking it fifth out of five airports.
• In December 2011, Sydney Airport announced a proposal to divide the airport into two airline-alliance-based precincts.
• 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.
• 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 limitations of having only two runways that crossed each other had become apparent and governments grappled with Sydney's airport capacity for decades.
• The closest airport to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Bankstown Airport (BWU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of SYD.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• By the 1960s the need for a new international terminal had become apparent, and work commenced in late 1966.

Facts about Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA):

• Yasser Arafat International Airport, formerly Gaza International Airport and Dahaniya International Airport, is located in the Gaza Strip, in between Rafah and Dahaniya, close to the Egyptian border.
• On 22 July 2010, 7,203 Gazan children between the ages of 6 and 15 participated in setting a new Guinness World Record for the simultaneous dribbling of basketballs on the airport's undamaged tarmac ramp.
• In addition to being known as "Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED)", another name for GZA is "مطار ياسر عرفات الدولي".
• Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED)'s relatively low elevation of 320 feet, planes can take off or land at Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) 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 Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA) is Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif Airport (GHK), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) N of GZA.
• The radar station and control tower were destroyed by Israel Defense Forces aircraft on 4 December 2001, after the start of the al-Aqsa Intifada.
• The furthest airport from Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,736 miles (18,887 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.