---
title: "Sydney to Melbourne (SYD → MEL): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Sydney to Melbourne is 706 km (438 mi) great circle, an estimated 1h 23m 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/syd-to-mel
---

SYD → MEL

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

Sydney Kingsford Smith to Melbourne is 706 km of great circle — 438 mi — and an estimated 1h 23m in the air. Both ends are in Oceania.

**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](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 270th longest.

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

## 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.

One economy seat on it is about 105 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

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

From

SYD

## Sydney Kingsford Smith

Sydney, Australia · Oceania

33.9°S, 151.2°E

[SYD airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/syd) [Flights to Sydney →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/sydney)

To

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)

## 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.

[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

[SYD → BNE Sydney to Brisbane 753 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/syd-to-bne) [SYD → ADL Sydney to Adelaide 1,164 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/syd-to-adl) [SYD → CHC Sydney to Christchurch 2,126 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/syd-to-chc) [SYD → AKL Sydney to Auckland 2,159 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/syd-to-akl) [MEL → AKL Melbourne to Auckland 2,637 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mel-to-akl) [MEL → PER Melbourne to Perth 2,700 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/mel-to-per)

## 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/syd-to-mel for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt