Nonstop flight route between Imperial, California, United States and Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Imperial County Airport (IPL), Imperial, California, United States and Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA), Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,807 miles (or 12,563 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 Imperial County Airport and Lhasa Gonggar 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 Imperial County Airport and Lhasa Gonggar 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 Imperial County Airport (IPL):

• Its first airline flights were Bonanza DC-3s about 1953.
• In addition to being known as "Imperial County Airport", another name for IPL is "Boley Field".
• Imperial County Airport covers an area of 370 acres at an elevation of 54 feet below mean sea level.
• Because of Imperial County Airport's relatively low elevation of -54 feet, planes can take off or land at Imperial County 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.
• The closest airport to Imperial County Airport (IPL) is Naval Air Facility El Centro (NJK), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) W of IPL.
• The furthest airport from Imperial County Airport (IPL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,531 miles (18,557 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Imperial County Airport (IPL) has 2 runways.

Facts about Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA):

• In addition to being known as "Lhasa Gonggar Airport", other names for LXA include "拉萨贡嘎机场ལྷ་ས་གོང་དཀར་རྫོང་" and "Lāsà Gònggá Jīchǎnglha sa gong kar dzong".
• Because of Lhasa Gonggar Airport's high elevation of 11,713 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LXA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LXA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• A new highway between Lhasa and the Gonggar Airport has been built by the Transportation Department of Tibet at a cost of RMB 1.5 billion yuan.
• The closest airport to Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) is Shigatse Peace Airport (RKZ), which is located 97 miles (156 kilometers) W of LXA.
• The furthest airport from Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is located 11,377 miles (18,309 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• Given the frequency of strong air currents picking up in the afternoon, most flights into the airport are scheduled in the morning.
• At an elevation of 3,500 metres above sea level, the airport is one of the highest in the world.
• The airport is connected to the rest of China, which includes cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Chongqing, Xian, Xining, Kunming, Diqing and Chamdo Region.
• Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) has 2 runways.