Nonstop flight route between Palo Alto, California, United States and Shangri-La, Yunnan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), Palo Alto, California, United States and Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG), Shangri-La, Yunnan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,178 miles (or 11,551 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 Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County and Dêqên Shangri-La 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 Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County and Dêqên Shangri-La 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 Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO):

• Because of Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County's relatively low elevation of 4 feet, planes can take off or land at Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County 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 closest airport to Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) is Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of PAO.
• The VOR approach is almost impossible to get from Air Traffic Control if the aircraft is GPS-equipped, because of the conflict with airline traffic in San Jose International Airport.
• Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) currently has only 1 runway.
• First time pilots should familiarize themselves with the complex SF Bay Area airspace, especially the overlying SFO Class B and the abutting SJC Class C airspace.
• The furthest airport from Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,289 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.

Facts about Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG):

• The closest airport to Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG) is Lijiang Sanyi Airport (LJG), which is located 85 miles (136 kilometers) SSE of DIG.
• Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Dêqên Shangri-La Airport", other names for DIG include "迪庆香格里拉机场" and "Díqìng Xiānggélǐlā Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is located 11,866 miles (19,096 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.
• Because of Dêqên Shangri-La Airport's high elevation of 10,761 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at DIG. Combined with a high temperature, this could make DIG a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.