Nonstop flight route between Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX), Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China and Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,942 miles (or 16,000 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 Qamdo Bamda Airport and Santos Dumont 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 Qamdo Bamda Airport and Santos Dumont Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX):

• In addition to being known as "Qamdo Bamda Airport", other names for BPX include "昌都邦达机场" and "Chāngdū Bāngdá Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is located 11,747 miles (18,904 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
• The closest airport to Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Yushu Batang Airport (YUS), which is located 158 miles (254 kilometers) N of BPX.
• Because of Qamdo Bamda Airport's high elevation of 14,436 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BPX. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BPX a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) currently has only 1 runway.
• Visitors are warned before landing to move slowly on leaving the plane and that they may feel light headed or dizzy because of the thin air.
• At an elevation of 4,334 m above sea level, Qamdo Airport was formerly the highest airport in the world.

Facts about Santos Dumont Airport (SDU):

• Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) has 2 runways.
• Adjoining the original seaplane terminal, Pan American World Airways and its Brazilian subsidiary Panair do Brasil constructed their own dedicated terminal for seaplanes and aircraft with landing gear.
• Santos Dumont Airport is the second major airport serving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• Because of Santos Dumont Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Santos Dumont 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santos Dumont Airport", another name for SDU is "Aeroporto Santos Dumont".
• The furthest airport from Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santos Dumont Airport (meaning Santos Dumont Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,125 miles (19,513 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• It was announced on 5 August 2009 that in order to renew its operational licence the Rio de Janeiro State Environment Institute – INEA would require Santos Dumont Airport to adjust operational standards.
• On 21 May 1959 a formal agreement between Varig, Cruzeiro do Sul, and VASP created an air shuttle service, the first of its kind in the world.
• The closest airport to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SDU.
• On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL152.2 million investment plan to upgrade Santos Dumont Airport, particularly the passenger arrivals terminal.
• Santos Dumont Airport handled 9,204,603 passengers last year.