Nonstop flight route between La Paz, Bolivia and San Jose, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between El Alto International Airport (LPB), La Paz, Bolivia and Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), San Jose, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,102 miles (or 8,211 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 El Alto International Airport and Norman Y. Mineta San Jose 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 El Alto International Airport and Norman Y. Mineta San Jose 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 El Alto International Airport (LPB):

• The closest airport to El Alto International Airport (LPB) is Apolo Airport (APB), which is located 118 miles (189 kilometers) N of LPB.
• El Alto International Airport handled 833,212 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from El Alto International Airport (LPB) is Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX), which is nearly antipodal to El Alto International Airport (meaning El Alto International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Sanya Phoenix International Airport), and is located 12,236 miles (19,692 kilometers) away in Sanya, Hainan, China.
• The Bolivian territory is characterized by extremely eventful relief.
• Because of El Alto International Airport's high elevation of 13,325 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LPB. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LPB a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• El Alto International Airport (LPB) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "El Alto International Airport", another name for LPB is "Aeropuerto Internacional El Alto".
• On 1 March 1997, the Government of Bolivia entered into a 25-year contract with Airport Group International to operate the three largest airports in Bolivia – El Alto Airport in La Paz, Jorge Wilstermann Airport in Cochabamba and Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz.

Facts about Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC):

• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport handled 8,357,384 passengers last year.
• SJC suffered with many mid-tier airports during the 2008 rise in oil prices as airlines reduced marginal services.
• In 1939 Ernie Renzel, a wholesale grocer and future mayor of San Jose, led a group that negotiated an option to buy 483 acres of the Stockton Ranch from the Crocker family, to be the site of San Jose's airport.
• On February 4, 2013, Virgin America announced it will begin service from San Jose to Los Angeles International Airport on May 1, 2013, with four daily nonstop flights each way.
• The furthest airport from Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,363 miles (18,287 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) is Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County (RHV), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) ESE of SJC.
• In 2009, the gates at the airport were renumbered in preparation for the addition of Terminal B.
• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) has 3 runways.
• Because of Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport's relatively low elevation of 62 feet, planes can take off or land at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose 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.
• Frontier Airlines pulled out of SJC in May 2010, citing lack of profitability on its single flight from the airport to Denver, Colorado.