Nonstop flight route between Palo Alto, California, United States and Edinburgh, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), Palo Alto, California, United States and Edinburgh Airport (EDI), Edinburgh, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,053 miles (or 8,132 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 Edinburgh 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 Edinburgh 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):

• 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.
• Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County covers 102 acres and has one asphalt paved runway measuring 2,443 × 70 ft.
• 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 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.
• 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 Edinburgh Airport (EDI):

• Because of Edinburgh Airport's relatively low elevation of 136 feet, planes can take off or land at Edinburgh 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.
• The closest airport to Edinburgh Airport (EDI) is Perth Airport (PSL), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) N of EDI.
• Although the original main runway 13/31 served the airport well, its alignment had the disadvantage of suffering from severe crosswinds and the other two minor runways were very short and could not be readily extended, so movements were transferred to a new runway in an addition completely outside the original airfield boundary.
• Turnhouse Aerodrome was the most northerly British air defence base in World War I used by the Royal Flying Corps.
• In 1918 the Royal Air Force was formed and the airfield was named RAF Turnhouse and ownership transferred to the Ministry of Defence.
• Passenger traffic at Edinburgh Airport reached a record level in 2013 with nearly 9.8 million passengers and over 111,000 aircraft movements.
• When the Second World War broke out, RAF Fighter Command took control over the airfield and a runway of 3,900 ft was paved to handle the Supermarine Spitfire.
• The airport is owned and operated by Global Infrastructure Partners, which also owns and operates Gatwick Airport and London City Airport.
• The furthest airport from Edinburgh Airport (EDI) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,713 miles (18,850 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Edinburgh Airport (EDI) has 2 runways.
• In April 2008 work began on the resurfacing of the main runway.
• Edinburgh Airport handled 9,775,443 passengers last year.