Nonstop flight route between Velikiye Luki, Pskov Oblast, Russia and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Velikiye Luki Airport (VLU), Velikiye Luki, Pskov Oblast, Russia and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,280 miles (or 14,935 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 Velikiye Luki 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 Velikiye Luki 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 Velikiye Luki Airport (VLU):

• The closest airport to Velikiye Luki Airport (VLU) is Smolensk South Airport (LNX), which is located 127 miles (204 kilometers) SSE of VLU.
• The furthest airport from Velikiye Luki Airport (VLU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,971 miles (17,657 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Velikiye Luki Airport (VLU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Velikiye Luki Airport's relatively low elevation of 328 feet, planes can take off or land at Velikiye Luki 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 "Velikiye Luki Airport", another name for VLU is "Аэропорт Великие Луки".

Facts about Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD):

• The closest airport to Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) is Bankstown Airport (BWU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of SYD.
• 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.
• The Darwin – Sydney route includes data from May 2012, prior data was not released.
• 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.
• In 2002, the Australian Government sold Sydney Airports Corporation Limited, the management authority for the airport, to Southern Cross Airports Corporation Holdings Ltd.
• Sydney Airport is an international airport located 8 km south of the city centre, in the suburb of Mascot in Sydney.
• 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 1933 the first gravel runways were built.
• 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 addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".