JetSetAuthority

Route · Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific

SYD Sydney ⇄ MEL Melbourne

Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (Australia) and Melbourne Airport (Australia): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance706 km438 mi381 nautical miles
SYD → MEL1 h 55 minestimated block time
MEL → SYD1 h 50 minestimated block time
Clock change±0 hMelbourne vs Sydney, today
Great-circle route from Sydney (SYD) to Melbourne (MEL)SYDSydneyMELMelbourne
The shortest path over the Earth’s surface (great circle), drawn on a Natural Earth projection. Real flight paths bend around weather, winds and closed airspace.

Flight time each way

SYD → MEL

1 h 55 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 232° (SW).

Leave Sydney Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Melbourne Sat 7 Nov, 11:55 local.

MEL → SYD

1 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 56° (NE).

Leave Melbourne Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Sydney Sat 7 Nov, 11:50 local.

The two directions differ by 8 minutes in our estimate: this route is short, so the wind has little effect on the total. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance706 km · 438 mi · 381 nmi
Initial heading232° (SW) from SYD; 56° (NE) from MEL
Farthest from the equator37.7°S
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip4% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

SYDAustralia/Sydney — UTC+11 now; UTC+10 standard time, UTC+11 during daylight saving time
MELAustralia/Melbourne — UTC+11 now; UTC+10 standard time, UTC+11 during daylight saving time
DifferenceMelbourne is on the same clock as Sydney today.

Jet lag, flying SYD → MEL. No time-zone change, so no jet lag from the clock — only the usual tiredness of travel.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

SYD Sydney Kingsford Smith International AirportSydney, Australia · longest runway 12,999 ft3,962 m MEL Melbourne AirportMelbourne, Australia · longest runway 11,998 ft3,657 m

More routes from SYD and MEL

SYDCBR Sydney – Canberra 236 km147 mi · 1 h 20 min SYDAKL Sydney – Auckland 2,159 km1,342 mi · 3 h 15 min SYDSIN Sydney – Singapore 6,293 km3,911 mi · 8 h 30 min SYDICN Sydney – Seoul 8,343 km5,184 mi · 10 h 40 min DXBSYD Dubai – Sydney 12,043 km7,483 mi · 14 h 15 min LHRSYD London – Sydney 17,021 km10,576 mi · 19 h 30 min MELHBA Melbourne – Hobart 618 km384 mi · 1 h 45 min MELBNE Melbourne – Brisbane 1,381 km858 mi · 2 h 35 min MELPER Melbourne – Perth 2,700 km1,678 mi · 4 h 25 min MELSIN Melbourne – Singapore 6,033 km3,748 mi · 8 h 10 min DXBMEL Dubai – Melbourne 11,644 km7,235 mi · 13 h 50 min DFWMEL Dallas–Fort Worth – Melbourne 14,475 km8,995 mi · 18 h 15 min

Routes of a similar length

MEXMTY Mexico City – Monterrey 713 km443 mi · 1 h 50 min SGNBKK Ho Chi Minh City – Bangkok 716 km445 mi · 1 h 55 min CDGNCE Paris – Nice 694 km431 mi · 1 h 50 min CGKSUB Jakarta – Surabaya 691 km429 mi · 1 h 50 min

Need a different pair? The flight-time calculator works for any two of 3,245 airports. Not covered: which airlines fly this route, schedules, fares and live status — that data is proprietary and we don’t guess it.

Photos on airport pages are credited there. Estimates are rounded to 5 minutes; typical error about 13 minutes (validation).