Nonstop flight route between Christmas Island, Australia and Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Christmas Island Airport (XCH), Christmas Island, Australia and Flying Cloud Airport (FCM), Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,803 miles (or 15,777 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 Christmas Island Airport and Flying Cloud 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 Christmas Island Airport and Flying Cloud 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 Christmas Island Airport (XCH):

• Christmas Island Airport (XCH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport's location at the top of a hill, with a 2% mid-runway gradient, makes it a challenging landing for pilots.
• Christmas Island Airport is an airport located on Christmas Island, a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean.
• Christmas Island Airport handled 27,286 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Christmas Island Airport (XCH) is Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (BAQ), which is nearly antipodal to Christmas Island Airport (meaning Christmas Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport), and is located 12,393 miles (19,944 kilometers) away in Barranquilla, Colombia.
• A brief revival of the "old days" happened in 2001 during the "Tampa" crisis when the heightened Royal Australian Air Force traffic was complemented by a large number of Department of Immigration and Citizenship and media charters.
• From the late 1940s, when the island was still a British colony administered by Singapore and the Straits Settlements Administration, it was serviced occasionally by Royal Air Force Short Sunderland flying boats before the construction of the airport.
• Because of Christmas Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 916 feet, planes can take off or land at Christmas Island 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 closest airport to Christmas Island Airport (XCH) is Cibeureum Airfield (TSY), which is located 276 miles (445 kilometers) NE of XCH.

Facts about Flying Cloud Airport (FCM):

• The furthest airport from Flying Cloud Airport (FCM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,748 miles (17,297 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Flying Cloud Airport's relatively low elevation of 906 feet, planes can take off or land at Flying Cloud 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 closest airport to Flying Cloud Airport (FCM) is Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Wold–Chamberlain Airport (MSP), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) ENE of FCM.
• Flying Cloud Airport (FCM) has 3 runways.