Nonstop flight route between Van Nuys, California, United States and Mascot (near Sydney), Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Van Nuys Airport (VNY), Van Nuys, California, United States and Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), Mascot (near Sydney), Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,499 miles (or 12,069 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 Van Nuys 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 Van Nuys 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 Van Nuys Airport (VNY):

• Legend has it that Burbank Airport provided the setting for Humphrey Bogart's famous goodbye in the film Casablanca.
• The closest airport to Van Nuys Airport (VNY) is Whiteman Airport (WHP), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NE of VNY.
• Because of Van Nuys Airport's relatively low elevation of 802 feet, planes can take off or land at Van Nuys 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 furthest airport from Van Nuys Airport (VNY) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,472 miles (18,463 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Van Nuys Airport (VNY) has 2 runways.

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

• The local, state and federal governments have investigated the viability of building a second major airport in Sydney since the 1940s.
• 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 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 addition to being known as "Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport", another name for SYD is "Kingsford-Smith Airport".
• Sydney Airport is one of the oldest continuously operated airports in the world, and the busiest airport in Australia, handling 35,630,549 passengers in 2011 and 326,686 aircraftmovements in 2013.
• The new terminal was officially opened on 3 May 1970, by Queen Elizabeth II.
• 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.
• Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD) has 3 runways.
• 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.