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MEL → PER

Melbourne to Perth: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

Melbourne to Perth is 2,700 km of great circle — 1,678 mi — and an estimated 3h 51m in the air. Both ends are in Oceania.

Great circle
2,700 km
1,678 mi
Estimated in the air
3h 51m
block time
Furthest from equator
37.7°S
at 0% along
One lap of Earth
6.7%
of 40,075 km

Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 173rd longest.

The Melbourne to Perth route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

What the aircraft actually flies over

From Melbourne the path crosses Australia, then 1,607 km of open water, then Australia.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 37.7°S, 0% of the way along.

Holding a single compass bearing the whole way would cover almost exactly the same ground, so on this route the flat map and the globe agree.

Leaving Melbourne the aircraft points west (275°); it arrives into Perth heading west (292°). That is 17° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.

From

MEL

Melbourne

Melbourne, Australia · Oceania

37.7°S, 144.8°E

To

PER

Perth

Perth, Australia · Oceania

31.9°S, 116.0°E

Melbourne to Perth, asked and answered

How far is Melbourne to Perth?
Melbourne to Perth (MEL to PER) is 2,700 km, or 1,678 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
How long is the flight from Melbourne to Perth?
About 3h 51m in the air. That is an estimate from the distance at a typical airliner block speed, plus half an hour for taxi, climb and descent; published schedules vary with winds and routing.
What route does a Melbourne to Perth flight take?
The great circle passes over Australia, then 1,607 km of open water, then Australia. It reaches 37.7°S at its furthest from the equator.

Where these numbers come from

Distances are computed from the two airports’ own coordinates, not looked up from published routes. Times are estimates, not schedules.

Why the shortest path is a curve →

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