Nonstop flight route between Townsville, Queensland, Australia and Fort Rucker/Ozark, Alabama, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Townsville Airport (TSV), Townsville, Queensland, Australia and Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR), Fort Rucker/Ozark, Alabama, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,086 miles (or 14,622 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 Townsville Airport and Cairns Army Airfield (AAF), 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 Townsville Airport and Cairns Army Airfield (AAF). 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 Townsville Airport (TSV):

• In the mid-1990s domestic flights started to decrease, with some services being cut back by Qantas and Ansett.
• In addition to being known as "Townsville Airport", other names for TSV include "Garbutt Airport" and "Townsville International Airport".
• Townsville Airport handled 1,644,089 passengers last year.
• Townsville Airport (TSV) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Townsville Airport (TSV) is Charters Towers Airport (CXT), which is located 63 miles (102 kilometers) SSW of TSV.
• Because of Townsville Airport's relatively low elevation of 18 feet, planes can take off or land at Townsville 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.
• Townsville Airport is a major Australian regional airport that services the city of Townsville.
• The furthest airport from Townsville Airport (TSV) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,884 miles (19,125 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• In April 1980, Sir Rupert Murdoch and Sir Peter Abeles, the new owners of Ansett, were petitioning the Federal Government for international flights to begin in some regional centres of Australia.
• In 2008 another upgrade project was completed, with an improvement of the check-in desks of the current airlines and an extra two desks built for Virgin Australia.
• The Department of Defence was looking for military airfield sites in northern Australia at the time, and almost immediately Townsville Airport was planned for expansion as a Royal Australian Air Force base for three fighter squadrons.

Facts about Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR):

• In 2012 the controllers handled 245,000 aircraft movements without incident.
• In addition to being known as "Cairns Army Airfield (AAF)", other names for OZR include "Cairns Army Airfield" and "Fort Rucker".
• Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR) is Lowe Army Heliport (AHP) (LOR), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NNW of OZR.
• Needing a location to shoot all takeoffs and landings for the 1949 film Twelve O'Clock High, including the spectacular B-17 Flying Fortress belly-landing sequence early in the film, director Henry King selected Ozark since its dark runways more closely matched wartime bases in England as opposed to the light-colored runways at nearby Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, the primary shoot location.
• Because of Cairns Army Airfield (AAF)'s relatively low elevation of 301 feet, planes can take off or land at Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) 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 furthest airport from Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,214 miles (18,047 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.