There is a small city with a population of about 150,000 people that received non-stop flights from all the inhabited continents this year. That means Europe, South America, North America, Africa, Australia and Asia, of course.
It is also the first city and airport in that particular country to have non-stop service from all the continents. Unless you live in that country, chances are you probably haven’t even heard of this place. So, where is it?
Flights From All Continents
The reason this airport saw flights from everywhere was due to the pandemic. Located 29km (18 miles) outside of this city is a quarantine facility called Howard Springs. Some people arriving into this country were sent here for their mandatory two weeks of hotel quarantine.
Have you finished guessing yet? The airport that saw non-stop service from all continents in 2021 was Darwin Airport. Darwin is located in the Northern Territory of Australia, which you can see in the map below.
Repatriation flights have run from every continent, including the recent non-stop from Buenos Aires to Darwin. That carried 107 passengers on a Boeing 787-9 on the 15,037km (9,343 miles) trip. It actually took an extra 354km due to the route and did it all in 17 hours and 26 minutes.
With Australia reopening to citizens from next month, Qantas has announced it will run its Sydney and Melbourne to London services via Darwin. This is in place of Singapore and Perth respectively, the traditional stopovers along the way. Good news for the people of the northern Australian city.
Overall Thoughts
Darwin has seen non-stop service from all continents this year and is the only airport in Australia where this has ever occurred. The city used to be a stop on the famous Qantas kangaroo route to London, but eventually aircraft could fly further and the stop was skipped.
There are not many airports in the world that have seen non-stop service from every continent. I wonder which other ones would be in contention. Perhaps London Heathrow? Anyone know?
What do you think of Darwin’s achievement? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Featured image by Tourism NT via Wikimedia Commons.
Map via Lonely Planet.
So glad the comments are back Trent! I never would have expected DRW of all places to win that dubious crown but Darwin is well located and isolated enough to make all that work with Covid and such. And with OZ being basically closed for a long while.
Same, the technical issue was corrected quickly enough! Indeed, DRW wouldn’t have been my first choice either. Pretty good for them, that’s for sure!!
Australia continues to be the laughingstock of the travel world. Most of us hope they never open up. They are clearly bonkers in terms of letting the recent flu control their lives. They are the example of how overreacting is a new art form. Better that they stay in Australia for at least a generation or two.
Hahaha! Australia is opening imminently, with the state of New South Wales due to hit 80% fully vaccinated in about 10 days time. Flights abroad have already been brought forward to November. Of course, they are only opening to vaccinated Australian citizens and removing the ban on citizens leaving, but tourists will eventually be allowed. Considering they’ve had less than 2,000 deaths for a population of 25 million, it could be argued they did the right thing. At the same time, there are plenty of arguments the other way too. History will be the judge! Thanks for the comment!
Antarctica is a continent last I checked. So, I assumed you meant a New Zealand or South African airport.
Antarctica certainly is a continent, but you’re not going to find a town or a city or a regular commercial airport for that matter. Hence all ‘inhabited’ continents in the title. Using that term a little loosely 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
True — there are only military and charter flights to Antarctica serving the many polar bases scattered around the continent. I was there in 2003-2004.
Lucky man to have served there, something not many people can claim to have done. That would have been an experience!!