Nonstop flight route between La Rochelle / Île de Ré, Charente-Maritime, France and Mountain View, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH), La Rochelle / Île de Ré, Charente-Maritime, France and Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,597 miles (or 9,007 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 La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport and Moffett Federal 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 La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport and Moffett Federal 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 La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH):

• La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport handled 236,736 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (meaning La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,153 miles (19,559 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) is Royan - Médis Aerodrome (RYN), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) SSE of LRH.
• In addition to being known as "La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport", another name for LRH is "Aéroport de La Rochelle – Ile de Ré".
• Because of La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport's relatively low elevation of 74 feet, planes can take off or land at La Rochelle – Île de Ré 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.
• La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport (LRH) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):

• The adjacent NASA Ames Research Center is also home to several wind tunnels, including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex.
• Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
• In 1931, the city of Sunnyvale acquired a 1,000 acres parcel of farmland bordering San Francisco Bay, paid for with nearly $480,000 raised by the citizens of Santa Clara County, then "sold" the parcel for $1 to the US government as a home base for the Navy airship USS Macon.
• In 2006, an offer to clean the hangar and coat its outsides with solar panels to recoup the costs of cleaning was floated by a private company, but the plan never saw fruition because it was too costly.
• The furthest airport from Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,290 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NW of NUQ.
• A spirited debate is underway over the future of Hangar One.
• Post-Cold War defense cutbacks and related Base Realignment and Closure actions in the 1990s identified NAS Moffett Field for closure.
• Because of Moffett Federal Airfield's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Moffett Federal 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.