Nonstop flight route between Valenciennes, France and Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS), Valenciennes, France and Gold Coast Airport (OOL), Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,248 miles (or 16,492 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport and Gold Coast 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport and Gold Coast 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS):

• In French control after the war, the airport sat abandoned for several years.
• The wartime air base is still evident with the 5500' concrete NE/SW runway remaining, complete with patched bomb craters and expansion joints allowing grass to grow between the concrete pads.
• In response to the interceptor attacks, Denain was attacked by USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolts mostly with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs.
• The closest airport to Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Lille Airport (LIL), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) NW of XVS.
• The furthest airport from Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,987 miles (19,291 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Valenciennes-Denain Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Valenciennes-Denain 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.
• Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Valenciennes-Denain Airport", another name for XVS is "(Advanced Landing Ground A-83/B-74)".
• It appears that the Luftwaffe moved out of Denain in 1941 and the airfield was left unused.

Facts about Gold Coast Airport (OOL):

• In 1990 the airport welcomed its first international charter service from New Zealand, and by 1999 Air New Zealand low-cost subsidiary Freedom Air started scheduled no-frills service from Hamilton, New Zealand with Boeing 737s.
• Gold Coast Airport, or Coolangatta Airport, is an Australian domestic and international airport located at the southern end of the Gold Coast, approximately 100 km south of Brisbane and 25 km south of Surfers Paradise.
• On 28 September 2012 Qantas Commenced services to Sydney.
• Gold Coast Airport handled 5,261,773 passengers last year.
• Gold Coast Airport (OOL) has 2 runways.
• On 30 March 2011 Gold Coast Airport was named the Best Regional Airport Asia/Pacific and was awarded the staff Service Excellence Australia/Pacific award at the Skytrax World Airport Awards in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Because of Gold Coast Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Gold Coast 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 Gold Coast Airport (OOL) is La Palma Airport (SPC), which is located 11,905 miles (19,159 kilometers) away in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.
• The closest airport to Gold Coast Airport (OOL) is Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK), which is located 46 miles (75 kilometers) S of OOL.
• On 22 September 2008 it was announced that Air Pacific will expand its services to Australia with the introduction of twice weekly flights between Nadi, Fiji and the Gold Coast commencing in December 2008.
• The airport opened an extension to the main runway as well as a full length parallel taxiway in May 2007.