Nonstop flight route between Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Mackay, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tawau Airport (TWU), Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Mackay Airport (MKY), Mackay, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,743 miles (or 4,414 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 Tawau Airport and Mackay 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 Tawau Airport and Mackay 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 Tawau Airport (TWU):

• Tawau Airport handled 1,202,344 passengers last year.
• In 2008, 768,967 passengers went through the airport with 10,546 aircraft movements.
• The furthest airport from Tawau Airport (TWU) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Tawau Airport (meaning Tawau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,350 miles (19,875 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Tawau Airport is located at Balung, 3 km further in from the Pan Borneo Highway.
• The closest airport to Tawau Airport (TWU) is Nunukan Airport (NNX), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of TWU.
• However on 15 September 1995, a Malaysian Airlines Fokker 50 from Kota Kinabalu touched down 500 m before the end of the 2,200 m long runway.
• Tawau airport is the nearest airport to the diving islands of Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai.
• Because of Tawau Airport's relatively low elevation of 57 feet, planes can take off or land at Tawau 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.
• In addition to being known as "Tawau Airport", another name for TWU is "Lapangan Terbang Tawau".
• Tawau Airport (TWU) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Mackay Airport (MKY):

• Mackay Airport (MKY) has 2 runways.
• The airport attracts a diverse range of carriers to service the travel needs of the business, commercial, industrial, leisure and visiting friends and relatives sectors.
• Despite the collapse of airlines Ansett Australia and Flight West Airlines in 2001, Mackay Airport has experienced considerable growth in recent years, due to the use of the airport by Virgin Australia and the expansion of QantasLink services, and handles over 620,000 passengers through the terminal per annum but that has slowed and the airport is up for sale.
• Mackay Airport handled 1,049,172 passengers last year.
• Because of Mackay Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Mackay 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.
• In November 2008, Mackay Airport was sold to a private consortium to fund the development of Mackay Hospital.
• The closest airport to Mackay Airport (MKY) is Great Barrier Reef Airport (HTI), which is located 58 miles (94 kilometers) NNW of MKY.
• The furthest airport from Mackay Airport (MKY) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,973 miles (19,269 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.