Nonstop flight route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF), Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA), Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,817 miles (or 12,581 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 Santa Fe Municipal Airport and Lhasa Gonggar 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 Santa Fe Municipal Airport and Lhasa Gonggar 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 Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF):

• The airport had nonstop and direct Douglas DC-9s to Dallas Love Field, continuing to Houston, on Texas International Airlines, and nonstop to Phoenix, AZ on America West Express Beechcraft 1900Cs operated by Mesa Airlines.
• Because of Santa Fe Municipal Airport's high elevation of 6,348 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SAF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SAF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,167 miles (17,972 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• On July 27, 2009 American Eagle announced a second daily flight to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
• The closest airport to Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF) is Los Alamos Airport (LAM), which is located 21 miles (33 kilometers) NNW of SAF.
• On March 1, 2013, it was announced that Santa Fe Municipal Airport may lose funding for operating its control tower due to federal budget cuts, leading to concerns that the airport may lose its commercial airline service.
• Currently, American Eagle operates Embraer ERJ-140 and ERJ-145 regional jets on all of its nonstop flights between Santa Fe and Dallas/Ft.
• Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF) has 3 runways.

Facts about Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA):

• Building an airport in Tibet, which is termed in flying parlance as going over a "hump" in the Tibetan Plateau, has gone through a process of trial and error through many hazardous air routes and several fatal accidents during World War II.
• The airport is connected to the rest of China, which includes cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Chongqing, Xian, Xining, Kunming, Diqing and Chamdo Region.
• In addition to being known as "Lhasa Gonggar Airport", other names for LXA include "拉萨贡嘎机场ལྷ་ས་གོང་དཀར་རྫོང་" and "Lāsà Gònggá Jīchǎnglha sa gong kar dzong".
• Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) has 2 runways.
• Because of Lhasa Gonggar Airport's high elevation of 11,713 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LXA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LXA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• At an elevation of 3,500 metres above sea level, the airport is one of the highest in the world.
• The furthest airport from Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is located 11,377 miles (18,309 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• The closest airport to Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) is Shigatse Peace Airport (RKZ), which is located 97 miles (156 kilometers) W of LXA.
• A new highway between Lhasa and the Gonggar Airport has been built by the Transportation Department of Tibet at a cost of RMB 1.5 billion yuan.