Nonstop flight route between São Paulo, Brazil and Tacoma, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between São Paulo/Congonhas Airport (CGH), São Paulo, Brazil and Gray Army Airfield (GRF), Tacoma, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,781 miles (or 10,914 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 São Paulo/Congonhas Airport and Gray Army Airfield, 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 São Paulo/Congonhas Airport and Gray Army Airfield. 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 São Paulo/Congonhas Airport (CGH):

• Until 1985 Congonhas was the main airport of São Paulo operating domestic flights, as well as international service to neighbouring countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.
• Congonhas has slot restrictions operating with a maximum of 30 operations/hour, being one of the three airports with such restrictions in Brazil.
• São Paulo/Congonhas Airport (CGH) has 2 runways.
• São Paulo/Congonhas Airport handled 17,119,530 passengers last year.
• Its Runway 35L is known for its notorious accidents, such as TAM Flight 3054, as shown below in the "accidents" section.
• The furthest airport from São Paulo/Congonhas Airport (CGH) is Minami-Daito Airport (MMD), which is nearly antipodal to São Paulo/Congonhas Airport (meaning São Paulo/Congonhas Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Minami-Daito Airport), and is located 12,235 miles (19,691 kilometers) away in Minami Daito, Okinawa, Japan.
• In addition to being known as "São Paulo/Congonhas Airport", another name for CGH is "Aeroporto de São Paulo/Congonhas".
• Azul Brazilian Airlines offers for its passengers free bus transfers between Congonhas and Campinas-Viracopos International Airport at regular times.
• In 2012 the airport was ranked 3rd in terms of transported passengers, 2nd in terms of aircraft operations, and 6th in terms of cargo handled in Brazil, placing it amongst the busiest airports in the country.
• The closest airport to São Paulo/Congonhas Airport (CGH) is São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) NE of CGH.

Facts about Gray Army Airfield (GRF):

• Camp Lewis advocates pushed for it to be a major dirigible and fixed-wing field.
• The furthest airport from Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,809 miles (17,395 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Another innovative aircraft came to GAAF in the fall of 2000.
• The closest airport to Gray Army Airfield (GRF) is McChord Field/McChord AFB (TCM), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of GRF.
• In October 1921 Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes flew from the Naval Station at Sand Point to a grass airfield at what was then called "Camp Lewis", located at a site just west of today’s Gray AAF.
• Gray Army Airfield (GRF) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Gray Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Gray Army Airfield 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 "Gray Army Airfield", another name for GRF is "(Joint Base Lewis-McChord)".
• The Army Air Force closed its facilities in 1947.