Nonstop flight route between Palo Alto, California, United States and Sofia, Bulgaria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), Palo Alto, California, United States and Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,490 miles (or 10,444 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna, 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna. 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):

• 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 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• According to the plan a new Sofia airport terminal was built to the east of the old terminal and a second runway was constructed alongside the existing one.
• Design and construction of a new control tower was discussed in 2006 but this project appeared to be in abeyance by 2008.
• The construction of the new Sofia tower is related to the reconstruction and development of Sofia Airport and is the natural extension of the development of the airport complex.
• The initial completion deadline for the new terminal was 15 December 2004 to a total budget of 112.2 million euro.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• The terminal had substantially reached its capacity of some 600,000 passengers a year by the later 1960s and was subjected to a number of refurbishments and extensions beginning in the spring of 1968.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The new tower was officially opened on 7 December 2012.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• On 31 August 2006, Sofia Airport put its new runway system into operation, replacing the old and out-of-date facilities.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.