Nonstop flight route between Mountain View, California, United States and Birmingham, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States and Birmingham Airport (BHX), Birmingham, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,269 miles (or 8,480 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 Moffett Federal Airfield and Birmingham 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 Moffett Federal Airfield and Birmingham 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 Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):

• The naval air station was authorized by an Act of Congress, signed by President Herbert Hoover on 12 February 1931.
• Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
• On 1 July 1994, NAS Moffett Field was closed as a naval air station and turned over to the NASA Ames Research Center.
• 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.
• In August 2008, the Navy proposed simply stripping the toxic coating from the hangar and leaving the skeleton after spraying it with a preservative.
• 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.

Facts about Birmingham Airport (BHX):

• Birmingham Airport (BHX) currently has only 1 runway.
• It is primarily served by the A45 main road, and is near Junction 6 of the M42 motorway.
• National Express West Midlands operates the main bus routes calling at Birmingham Airport, those being the 900 to Birmingham city centre and Coventry, and the 966 to Erdington and Solihull.
• Although initial plans for a second runway were scrapped, this is now firmly back on the airports agenda ahead of the report into Britains aviation strategy being published.
• The closest airport to Birmingham Airport (BHX) is Coventry Airport (CVT), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) ESE of BHX.
• It's also been estimated that if these plans were to go ahead, the airport could handle around 70,000,000 passengers annually, and around 500,000 aircraft movements.
• Building a new control tower for the airport began in July 2011, to replace the old tower which has stood at the airport since it was opened in 1939.
• Birmingham Airport handled 9,120,201 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Birmingham Airport (BHX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,858 miles (19,084 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Because of Birmingham Airport's relatively low elevation of 341 feet, planes can take off or land at Birmingham 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.