Nonstop flight route between Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tawau Airport (TWU), Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,410 miles (or 5,488 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 Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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 Sydney (Kingsford Smith) 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 (TWU) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• According to a survey, the old airport has one of the shortest runways in the country.
• The airport was subsequently opened to public in December 2001.
• In 2008, 768,967 passengers went through the airport with 10,546 aircraft movements.
• The closest airport to Tawau Airport (TWU) is Nunukan Airport (NNX), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of TWU.
• In addition to being known as "Tawau Airport", another name for TWU is "Lapangan Terbang Tawau".
• At present, this airport is being expanded to accommodate medium wide-body aircraft with 2 aero bridges.
• The terminal is a one and a half stories building, which consists of two aerobridges, and its large apron can accommodate eight aircraft at one time.
• 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 handled 1,202,344 passengers last year.

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.
• The new terminal was officially opened on 3 May 1970, by Queen Elizabeth II.
• Since the international terminal's original completion, it has undergone two large expansions.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 2012, Sydney Airport served 22,652,282 domestic, 1,986,595 regional and 12,372,246 international passengers.
• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• Terminal 1 was opened on 3 May 1970, replacing the old Overseas Passenger Terminal and has been greatly expanded since then.
• In September 2012, Sydney Airport CEO Kerrie Mather announced the airport had abandoned the proposal to create alliance-based terminals in favour of terminals "based around specific airline requirements and transfer flows".
• 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 closest airport to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Bankstown Airport (BWU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of SYD.
• In 1995 the Australian Parliament passed the Sydney Airport Curfew Act 1995, which limits the operating hours of the airport.
• In addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".