Nonstop flight route between London, England, United Kingdom and Shanghai, People's Republic of China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), Shanghai, People's Republic of China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,749 miles (or 9,252 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 Gatwick Airport and Shanghai Pudong International 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 Gatwick Airport and Shanghai Pudong International 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 Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• On 1 May 1963, non-scheduled operators began implementing the Ministry of Aviation's instruction to transfer all regular charter flights from Heathrow to Gatwick, restricting the former's use for non-scheduled operations to "occasional" charter flights.
• The furthest airport from Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• In May 1950, Gatwick's first charter flight left the airport's original grass runway for Calvi on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
• The name "Gatwick" was first recorded as "Gatwik" in 1241 on the site of today's airport, on the northern edge of the North Terminal's aircraft taxiing area.
• On 1 April 1978, British Airways and Aer Lingus began daily scheduled flights between Gatwick and Dublin, the first use of Gatwick as a London terminal for scheduled services between the British and Irish capitals and the first BA scheduled service from Gatwick with aircraft based at the airport.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick 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.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• A second 875-foot extension of Gatwick's runway was completed in 1970, bringing it to 9,075 ft and permitting non-stop jet flights to the US east coast with a full payload and full range and payload operations by British United Airways and Caledonian Airways BAC One-Eleven 500s.BEA Airtours made Gatwick their base.
• The London and Brighton Railway opened on 21 September 1841, and ran near Gatwick Manor.

Facts about Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG):

• A second runway was opened on March 17, 2005, and construction of phase two began in December 2005 and started operation on March 26, 2008, in time for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.
• Pudong Airport is connected to the city's urban rail network through Metro Line 2 and the Shanghai Maglev Train.
• Shanghai Airlines moved to Terminal 2 upon its opening on March 26, 2008 with 14 other airlines, including Air India, Northwest Airlines, Qatar Airways, Alitalia, British Airways, Qantas, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Philippine Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Transaero Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Aerosvit Airlines, Garuda Indonesia and Royal Nepal Airlines.
• The closest airport to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) is Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) W of PVG.
• Because of Shanghai Pudong International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Shanghai Pudong International 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.
• Starting service on 29 January 2004 as the first commercial high-speed maglev railway in the world, Shanghai Maglev Train links Pudong International Airport with Longyang Road Metro Station, where transfer to Line 2 or Line 7 is possible.
• Shanghai Pudong International Airport handled 44,857,200 passengers last year.
• Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) is Comodoro Pierrestegui Airport (COC), which is nearly antipodal to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (meaning Shanghai Pudong International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Comodoro Pierrestegui Airport), and is located 12,421 miles (19,990 kilometers) away in Concordia, Entre Ríos, Argentina.
• In addition to being known as "Shanghai Pudong International Airport", other names for PVG include "上海浦东国际机场" and "Shànghǎi Pǔdōng Guójì Jīchǎng".