When planning a trip between South Africa and Australia, understanding the flight distance and available routes is essential. Travelmath can assist you in finding distances based on road trip directions or straight-line flight distances. By comparing the results to the straight-line distance, you can determine whether it's better to drive or fly.
The database calculates distance using the latitude and longitude of each location, employing the great circle distance formula. The calculation is done using the Vincenty algorithm and the WGS84 ellipsoid model of the Earth, which is the same one used by most GPS receivers. This provides the flying distance "as the crow flies." You can quickly find flight distances to estimate frequent flyer miles or solve homework problems.
The distance between cities is calculated based on their latitudes and longitudes. This is also called the distance as the crow flies. Bird flight distance is calculated by drawing a straight line between two-point coordinates. The length of this drawn line will give the shortest distance value.
Flight Details: Melbourne to Johannesburg
The flight distance from Melbourne (Australia) to Johannesburg (South Africa) is 6417 miles. This is equivalent to 10327 kilometers or 5573 nautical miles. The calculated distance (air line) is the straight-line distance or direct flight distance between cities.
Flight time from Melbourne, Australia, to Johannesburg, South Africa, is 12 hours 50 minutes under average conditions. Our flight time calculator assumes an average flight speed for a commercial airliner of 500 mph, which is equivalent to 805 km/hr or 434 knots.
Read also: Travel Tips: JFK to Cairo
The time difference between Melbourne (Australia) and Johannesburg (South Africa) is 9 hours.
A flight map from Melbourne, Australia, to Johannesburg, South Africa, is given below.
Qantas Just Made a HUGE Announcement on Airbus A380! (LIVE)
Historical Context: The Wallaby Route
First flown in 1948, its name was inspired by the route's short ‘hops’ used to cover the long distance, similar to the hops of the wallaby; a marsupial largely endemic to, and culturally associated with, Australia. Qantas Empire Airways first flew the Wallaby Route to South Africa on 14 November 1948 with a survey flight operated with an Avro Lancastrian from Sydney via Melbourne, Perth, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Mauritius to Johannesburg. This connected the two continents with direct commercial air flight for the first time.
The initial survey flight took a total of 41 hours and 52 minutes of flying time done over seven days of November 14-20. On 1 September 1952, the first scheduled passenger service left Sydney for Johannesburg.
In 1957, Qantas and South African Airways (SAA) announced a partnership to operate the Wallaby Route on alternating weeks, SAA with its Douglas DC-7B aircraft and Qantas with its Super Constellations. With the powerful DC-7B's extra range, SAA could skip Réunion completely. In March 1967, with Perth Airport's runway extension now completed and capable of handling jet aircraft, both Qantas and SAA replaced their respective Lockheed Electras and DC-7Bs with their new Boeing 707.
Read also: Planning Your Trip: D.C. to Cape Town Flight Duration
From 1976 to 1982, Qantas suspended all operations between Australia and South Africa. On November 14, 1982, Qantas restored service on the Wallaby route to Zimbabwe (Harare) using its new 747SP aircraft with Johannesburg direct services (re)added later.
Current Flight Options
While no airline uses the "Wallaby Route" branding, two airlines offer non-stop services between South Africa and Australia, with each being the flag carrier of their respective nations. QANTAS offers the most services, with 6 weekly routes on their A380 aircraft flying non-stop from Sydney.
Excluding flights connecting through Europe or the Americas, there are a total of nine airlines competing in the Australia-South Africa air market, with three of those connecting through East Asia and a further three through the Middle East.
Airlines and Routes
| Airline | Route | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| QANTAS | Sydney - Johannesburg | Non-stop services with A380 aircraft |
| Other Airlines | Various routes | Connecting through East Asia or the Middle East |
Read also: Sao Paulo Flight from Addis Ababa
