Nonstop flight route between Cortez, Colorado, United States and Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cortez Municipal Airport (CEZ), Cortez, Colorado, United States and Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX), Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,462 miles (or 12,009 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 Cortez Municipal Airport and Qamdo Bamda 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 Cortez Municipal Airport and Qamdo Bamda 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 Cortez Municipal Airport (CEZ):

• Cortez Municipal Airport (CEZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 8,401 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 7,698 in 2009 and 6,342 in 2010.
• The closest airport to Cortez Municipal Airport (CEZ) is Animas Air Park (AMK), which is located 42 miles (68 kilometers) E of CEZ.
• A Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft made an emergency nighttime forced landing August 3, 1959, at the Cortez Municipal Airport.
• Because of Cortez Municipal Airport's high elevation of 5,918 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CEZ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CEZ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Cortez Municipal Airport (CEZ) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,132 miles (17,915 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX):

• The airport is 2.5 hours by mountain road from the county seat of Qamdo.
• The closest airport to Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Yushu Batang Airport (YUS), which is located 158 miles (254 kilometers) N of 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".
• Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) currently has only 1 runway.
• At an elevation of 4,334 m above sea level, Qamdo Airport was formerly the highest airport in the world.
• 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.
• 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.