Nonstop flight route between Chengdu, Sichuan, China and Clayton, New Mexico, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU), Chengdu, Sichuan, China and Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO), Clayton, New Mexico, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,484 miles (or 12,045 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 Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport and Clayton Municipal Airpark, 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 Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport and Clayton Municipal Airpark. 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 Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU):

• On December 12, 1956, the Shuangguisi Airport was put under civil aviation, which was then formally listed as a civil aviation airport and renamed Chengdu Shuangliu Airport.
• The airport, formerly named Shuangguisi Airport, opened in capacity as an auxiliary military airfield in 1938 during the second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.
• The furthest airport from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is nearly antipodal to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (meaning Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from La Florida Airport), and is located 12,144 miles (19,543 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.
• Terminal 2 under construction
• The closest airport to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) is Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG), which is located 75 miles (121 kilometers) NE of CTU.
• Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport handled 31,500,000 passengers last year.
• In 2013 United Airlines announced it would start a thrice-weekly flight from San Francisco to Chengdu, operated with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport", other names for CTU include "成都双流国际机场" and "Chéngdū Shuāngliú Guójì Jīchǎng".
• During World War II, the airport was known as Shwangliu Airfield and was later used by the United States Army Air Forces Fourteenth Air Force as part of the China Defensive Campaign.
• Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) has 2 runways.

Facts about Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO):

• 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.
• The closest airport to Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO) is Dalhart Municipal Airport (DHT), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) SE of CAO.
• Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO) has 2 runways.
• 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.