---
title: "Melbourne to Perth (MEL → PER): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Melbourne to Perth is 2,700 km (1,678 mi) great circle, an estimated 3h 51m in the air. The route, what it flies over, and why the short way is not the straight line on a map."
url: https://orbitflights.app/routes/mel-to-per
---

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](https://orbitflights.app/routes), 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.

One economy seat on it is about 400 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

[MEL–PER carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=MEL&to=PER) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=MEL-PER)

From

MEL

## Melbourne

Melbourne, Australia · Oceania

37.7°S, 144.8°E

[MEL airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/mel) [Flights to Melbourne →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/melbourne)

To

PER

## Perth

Perth, Australia · Oceania

31.9°S, 116.0°E

[PER airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/per) [Flights to Perth →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/perth)

## 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 →](https://orbitflights.app/blog/great-circle-routes-explained)

## Flown this one?

Orbit logs it in two taps and draws the arc on your own globe, along with every other flight you can remember. Free for your first 15.

[Download now](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qwertybit.orbit)

## Nearby routes

[MEL → AKL Melbourne to Auckland 2,637 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mel-to-akl) [SYD → PER Sydney to Perth 3,277 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/syd-to-per) [PER → SIN Perth to Singapore 3,911 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/per-to-sin) [SYD → MEL Sydney to Melbourne 706 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/syd-to-mel) [LAX → MEL Los Angeles to Melbourne 12,758 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lax-to-mel) [MEL → LAX Melbourne to Los Angeles 12,758 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mel-to-lax)

## Further reading

[How many miles do you have to fly around the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/how-many-miles-to-fly-around-the-world) [What is on the exact opposite side of the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/opposite-side-of-the-world) [What's actually worth counting in a flight log](https://orbitflights.app/blog/what-is-worth-counting-in-a-flight-log)

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Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/mel-to-per for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt