Nonstop flight route between San Francisco, California, United States and London, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SFO to LGW:
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- About this route
- SFO Airport Information
- LGW Airport Information
- Facts about SFO
- Facts about LGW
- Map of Nearest Airports to SFO
- List of Nearest Airports to SFO
- Map of Furthest Airports from SFO
- List of Furthest Airports from SFO
- Map of Nearest Airports to LGW
- List of Nearest Airports to LGW
- Map of Furthest Airports from LGW
- List of Furthest Airports from LGW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, California, United States and Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,378 miles (or 8,655 kilometers).
A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between San Francisco International Airport and Gatwick Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.
Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between San Francisco International Airport and Gatwick Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SFO / KSFO |
Airport Name: | San Francisco International Airport |
Location: | San Francisco, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°37'8"N by 122°22'30"W |
Area Served: | San Francisco |
Operator/Owner: | City & County of San Francisco |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 13 feet (4 meters) |
# of Runways: | 4 |
View all routes: | Routes from SFO |
More Information: | SFO Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | LGW / EGKK |
Airport Name: | Gatwick Airport |
Location: | London, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°8'53"N by 0°11'25"W |
Area Served: | London, United Kingdom |
Operator/Owner: | Global Infrastructure Partners |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 203 feet (62 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from LGW |
More Information: | LGW Maps & Info |
Facts about San Francisco International Airport (SFO):
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has 4 runways.
- San Francisco International Airport handled 44,477,209 passengers last year.
- SFO was also one of the first U.S.
- Domestic flights on JetBlue Airways, Sun Country Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines also operate from the International Terminal at boarding area A.
- The furthest airport from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,290 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- The airport closed following the Loma Prieta earthquake on October 17, 1989, reopening the following morning.
- The closest airport to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is Half Moon Bay AirportHalf Moon Bay Flight Strip (HAF), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) SW of SFO.
- SFO experiences delays in overcast weather when only two of the airport's four runways can be used at a time because the centerlines of the parallel runways are only 750 feet apart.
- Because of San Francisco International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at San Francisco International Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
- A long-planned extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to the airport opened on June 22, 2003, allowing passengers to board BART trains at the international terminal to San Francisco or the East Bay.
Facts about Gatwick Airport (LGW):
- The third extension to Gatwick's runway was completed in 1973, bringing it to 10,165 ft and allowing for non-stop narrow-body operations to the US west coast and commercially viable, long-range wide-body operations.Wardair became the first airline to operate Boeing 747s at Gatwick.KLM augmented its Heathrow–Amsterdam service with a Gatwick–Amsterdam route, making it the first non-UK airline to split operations between Heathrow and Gatwick for commercial reasons rather than to comply with government directives.
- The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
- In July 1952, the British government confirmed that the airport would be renovated, primarily for aircraft diverted from Heathrow in bad weather.
- The furthest airport from Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US.US Airways, Gatwick's last remaining US carrier, ended service from the airport on 30 March 2013.
- Beginning in the late 1950s, a number of British contemporary private airlines joined Airwork at the airport.
- On 6 July 1935, the aerodrome closed temporarily for renovations, which included the construction of the "Beehive", the world's first circular terminal building.
- Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
- Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
- Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.