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SYD → PER

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

Sydney Kingsford Smith to Perth is 3,277 km of great circle — 2,036 mi — and an estimated 4h 34m in the air. Both ends are in Oceania.

Great circle
3,277 km
2,036 mi
Estimated in the air
4h 34m
block time
Furthest from equator
34.4°S
at 30% along
One lap of Earth
8.2%
of 40,075 km

Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 165th longest.

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

What the aircraft actually flies over

From Sydney the path crosses Australia, then 1,032 km of open water, then Australia.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 34.4°S, 30% 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 Sydney the aircraft points west (264°); it arrives into Perth heading west (284°). That is 20° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.

From

SYD

Sydney Kingsford Smith

Sydney, Australia · Oceania

33.9°S, 151.2°E

To

PER

Perth

Perth, Australia · Oceania

31.9°S, 116.0°E

Sydney to Perth, asked and answered

How far is Sydney to Perth?
Sydney to Perth (SYD to PER) is 3,277 km, or 2,036 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
How long is the flight from Sydney to Perth?
About 4h 34m 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 Perth flight take?
The great circle passes over Australia, then 1,032 km of open water, then Australia. It reaches 34.4°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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