Nonstop flight route between Mountain View, California, United States and Beijing, People's Republic of China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), Beijing, People's Republic of China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,922 miles (or 9,530 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 Beijing Capital 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 Moffett Federal Airfield and Beijing Capital 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 Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):

• Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 2008, the Ames Research Center leased 42 acres around the field to Google.
• As an aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy wanted to use the airship hangars at Moffett for blimp operations along with Pacific Coast.
• The airship hangar's interior is so large that fog sometimes forms near the ceiling.
• Hangars #2 and #3 are some of the world's largest freestanding wood structures.
• 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.
• In April 2011, the exterior panels began coming down, starting at the top.

Facts about Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK):

• A 98.3 m monitoring tower stands at the southern end of T3, the highest building at the airport.
• The terminal has gates and a nearby runway that can handle the Airbus A380, which were proven when Singapore Airlines briefly offered A380 flights to Beijing in August 2008 during the Summer Olympics.
• Because of Beijing Capital International Airport's relatively low elevation of 116 feet, planes can take off or land at Beijing Capital 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.
• A third runway of BCIA opened on 29 October 2007, to relieve congestion on the other two runways.
• Terminal 2 opened on 1 November 1999, with a floor area of 336,000 m2.
• Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport (VDM), which is nearly antipodal to Beijing Capital International Airport (meaning Beijing Capital International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport), and is located 12,378 miles (19,920 kilometers) away in Viedma, Argentina.
• Another expansion, Terminal 3 was completed in February 2008, in time for the Beijing Olympics.
• Beijing Capital International Airport handled 83,712,355 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is Beijing Nanyuan Airport (NAY), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) SSW of PEK.
• In addition to being known as "Beijing Capital International Airport", other names for PEK include "北京首都国际机场" and "Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Beijing Airport was opened on 2 March 1958.
• Terminals 1 and 2 are linked by a public walkway that takes about 10–15 minutes to traverse.