Nonstop flight route between San Diego, California, United States and Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Diego International Airport (SAN), San Diego, California, United States and Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN), Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,742 miles (or 9,241 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 San Diego International Airport and Cologne/Bonn 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 San Diego International Airport and Cologne/Bonn 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 San Diego International Airport (SAN):

• The airport is near the site of the Ryan Airlines factory, but it is not the same as Dutch Flats, the Ryan airstrip where Charles Lindbergh flight tested the Spirit of St.
• San Diego International Airport's expansion program, dubbed "The Green Build", is expected to help the airport meet current and future travel demands.
• The approach from the east is steeper than most due to terrain which drops from 266 ft to sea level in less than one nautical mile.
• Because of San Diego International Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at San Diego International 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.
• San Diego International Airport (SAN) currently has only 1 runway.
• San Diego International is the busiest single-runway commercial airport in the United States, and the second-busiest single-use runway in the world after London Gatwick with about 550 departures and arrivals carrying 50,000 passengers each day, and a total of 17,250,269 passengers in 2012.
• Landing at the airport from the east offers closeup views of skyscrapers, Petco Park, and the Coronado Bridge from the left side of the aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "San Diego International Airport", another name for SAN is "Lindbergh Field".
• As of December 2012, San Diego International Airport is served by 22 passenger airlines and five cargo airlines which fly nonstop to 54 destinations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, and Japan.
• The closest airport to San Diego International Airport (SAN) is NAS North Island (NZY), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of SAN.
• The furthest airport from San Diego International Airport (SAN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,540 miles (18,571 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN):

• Local bus lines also connect the airport with Cologne and Bonn.
• The airport is located in the district of Porz and is surrounded by the Wahner Heide nature reserve.
• The closest airport to Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN) is Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) NNW of CGN.
• Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN) has 3 runways.
• Cologne/Bonn Airport handled 9,280,070 passengers last year.
• Ryanair and Norwegian began service to Cologne/Bonn in May 2012.
• In addition to being known as "Cologne/Bonn Airport", another name for CGN is "Flughafen Köln/Bonn".
• In April 2014 Ryanair announced the opening of their fifth German base at Cologne/Bonn Airport for October 2014.
• Because of Cologne/Bonn Airport's relatively low elevation of 302 feet, planes can take off or land at Cologne/Bonn 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 furthest airport from Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,921 miles (19,185 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.