Nonstop flight route between Palo Alto, California, United States and Þórshöfn, Iceland:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from PAO to THO:
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- About this route
- PAO Airport Information
- THO Airport Information
- Facts about PAO
- Facts about THO
- Map of Nearest Airports to PAO
- List of Nearest Airports to PAO
- Map of Furthest Airports from PAO
- List of Furthest Airports from PAO
- Map of Nearest Airports to THO
- List of Nearest Airports to THO
- Map of Furthest Airports from THO
- List of Furthest Airports from THO
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), Palo Alto, California, United States and Þórshöfn Airport (THO), Þórshöfn, Iceland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,308 miles (or 6,932 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 Þórshöfn 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 Þórshöfn Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | PAO / KPAO |
Airport Name: | Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County |
Location: | Palo Alto, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°27'39"N by 122°6'53"W |
Operator/Owner: | County of Santa Clara |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 4 feet (1 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from PAO |
More Information: | PAO Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | THO / BITN |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Þórshöfn, Iceland |
GPS Coordinates: | 66°13'5"N by 15°20'8"W |
Area Served: | Þórshöfn, Iceland |
Operator/Owner: | ISAVIA |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 64 feet (20 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from THO |
More Information: | THO Maps & Info |
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 airport was opened to the public in April 1940.
- 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 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 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.
- Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County covers 102 acres and has one asphalt paved runway measuring 2,443 × 70 ft.
- Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
Facts about Þórshöfn Airport (THO):
- The furthest airport from Þórshöfn Airport (THO) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,096 miles (17,857 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
- Þórshöfn Airport (THO) currently has only 1 runway.
- In addition to being known as "Þórshöfn Airport", another name for THO is "Þórshafnarflugvöllur".
- Because of Þórshöfn Airport's relatively low elevation of 64 feet, planes can take off or land at Þórshöfn 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 Þórshöfn Airport (THO) is Vopnafjörður Airport (VPN), which is located 37 miles (60 kilometers) SSE of THO.