Nonstop flight route between Clayton, New Mexico, United States and Lugano, Agno, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO), Clayton, New Mexico, United States and Lugano Airport (LUG), Lugano, Agno, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,350 miles (or 8,611 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 Clayton Municipal Airpark and Lugano 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 Clayton Municipal Airpark and Lugano 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 Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO):

• Because of Clayton Municipal Airpark's high elevation of 4,970 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CAO. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CAO a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,024 miles (17,741 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO) is Dalhart Municipal Airport (DHT), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) SE of CAO.

Facts about Lugano Airport (LUG):

• The closest airport to Lugano Airport (LUG) is Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) SSW of LUG.
• Lugano Airport (LUG) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Lugano Airport's relatively low elevation of 915 feet, planes can take off or land at Lugano 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 "Lugano Airport", another name for LUG is "Aeroporto di Lugano".
• The furthest airport from Lugano Airport (LUG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Lugano Airport (meaning Lugano Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,134 miles (19,527 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The current location of the airport dates back to 1938, when it opened as a grass field.
• The airport's instrument approach procedure is quite challenging because of its steep angle of descent of 6.65°, more than double of the standard approach angle of 3°.
• A shuttle bus connects the airport with Lugano railway station and city centre, meeting most scheduled flights.
• In the early 1980s, the airline Crossair decided to invest in the airport, establishing connections between Lugano and various European cities.