Nonstop flight route between Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, Canada and Mackay, Queensland, Australia:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from YFS to MKY:
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- About this route
- YFS Airport Information
- MKY Airport Information
- Facts about YFS
- Facts about MKY
- Map of Nearest Airports to YFS
- List of Nearest Airports to YFS
- Map of Furthest Airports from YFS
- List of Furthest Airports from YFS
- Map of Nearest Airports to MKY
- List of Nearest Airports to MKY
- Map of Furthest Airports from MKY
- List of Furthest Airports from MKY
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Fort Simpson Airport (YFS), Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, Canada and Mackay Airport (MKY), Mackay, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,487 miles (or 12,049 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 Fort Simpson Airport and Mackay 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 Fort Simpson Airport and Mackay Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | YFS / CYFS |
Airport Name: | Fort Simpson Airport |
Location: | Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, Canada |
GPS Coordinates: | 61°45'37"N by 121°14'12"W |
Operator/Owner: | Government of the Northwest Territories |
Elevation: | 556 feet (169 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from YFS |
More Information: | YFS Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MKY / YBMK |
Airport Name: | Mackay Airport |
Location: | Mackay, Queensland, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 21°10'18"S by 149°10'46"E |
Operator/Owner: | Mackay Airport Pty Ltd |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 19 feet (6 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from MKY |
More Information: | MKY Maps & Info |
Facts about Fort Simpson Airport (YFS):
- The furthest airport from Fort Simpson Airport (YFS) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 10,037 miles (16,152 kilometers) away in Port Alfred, South Africa.
- Because of Fort Simpson Airport's relatively low elevation of 556 feet, planes can take off or land at Fort Simpson 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 Fort Simpson Airport (YFS) is Wrigley Airport (YWY), which is located 122 miles (197 kilometers) NW of YFS.
- Fort Simpson Airport (YFS) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Mackay Airport (MKY):
- The closest airport to Mackay Airport (MKY) is Great Barrier Reef Airport (HTI), which is located 58 miles (94 kilometers) NNW of MKY.
- The furthest airport from Mackay Airport (MKY) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,973 miles (19,269 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
- Mackay is a thriving mining, agricultural, industrial and regional business centre that also supports a growing tourism industry and is a gateway to the Whitsunday coast and islands.
- Because of Mackay Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Mackay 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.
- Mackay Airport (MKY) has 2 runways.
- Moves to establish an airport at Mackay began in 1927, when Captain Ron Adair selected the site of the town commons for the construction of an aerodrome, and landed the first plane in Mackay there, his own Avro biplane.
- Despite the collapse of airlines Ansett Australia and Flight West Airlines in 2001, Mackay Airport has experienced considerable growth in recent years, due to the use of the airport by Virgin Australia and the expansion of QantasLink services, and handles over 620,000 passengers through the terminal per annum but that has slowed and the airport is up for sale.
- Mackay Airport handled 1,049,172 passengers last year.