- Great circle
- 706 km
- 438 mi
- Estimated in the air
- 1h 23m
- block time
- Furthest from equator
- 37.7°S
- at 100% along
- One lap of Earth
- 1.8%
- of 40,075 km
Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 270th longest.
What the aircraft actually flies over
From Sydney the path crosses Australia.
The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 37.7°S, 100% 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.
The heading barely moves: south-west out of Sydney, south-west into Melbourne. Over this distance the curve has too little room to bend the compass.
SYD
Sydney Kingsford Smith
Sydney, Australia · Oceania
33.9°S, 151.2°E
Sydney to Melbourne, asked and answered
- How far is Sydney to Melbourne?
- Sydney to Melbourne (SYD to MEL) is 706 km, or 438 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
- How long is the flight from Sydney to Melbourne?
- About 1h 23m 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 Sydney to Melbourne flight take?
- The great circle passes over 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.
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