Nonstop flight route between San Diego, California, United States and Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Diego International Airport (SAN), San Diego, California, United States and New Chitose Airport (CTS), Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,226 miles (or 8,410 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 New Chitose 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 New Chitose 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):

• San Diego International Airport (SAN) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The first scheduled jet flights at Lindbergh Field were in 1960, American Airlines Boeing 720s to Phoenix and United Airlines 720s to San Francisco.
• 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.
• In January 2008, San Diego International Airport entered the blogosphere with the launch of the first employee blog – the Ambassablog – for a major U.S.
• In addition to being known as "San Diego International Airport", another name for SAN is "Lindbergh Field".
• Inspired by Lindbergh's flight and excited to have made his plane, the city of San Diego passed a bond issue in 1928 for the construction of a two-runway municipal airport.

Facts about New Chitose Airport (CTS):

• As of 2005, New Chitose Airport was the third busiest airport in Japan and ranked #64 in the world in terms of passengers carried.
• New Chitose opened in 1991 to replace the adjacent Chitose Airport, a joint-use facility which had served passenger flights since 1963.
• Because of New Chitose Airport's relatively low elevation of 70 feet, planes can take off or land at New Chitose 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 New Chitose Airport (CTS) is Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport (PDP), which is located 11,383 miles (18,319 kilometers) away in Maldonado/Punta del Este, Maldonado, Uruguay.
• New Chitose Airport (CTS) has 4 runways.
• The closest airport to New Chitose Airport (CTS) is Asahikawa Airport (AKJ), which is located 73 miles (117 kilometers) NNE of CTS.
• China Airlines operates its Sapporo office on the third floor of the airport building.
• In addition to being known as "New Chitose Airport", other names for CTS include "Sapporo/New Chitose Airport", "新千歳空港" and "Shin-Chitose Kūkō".
• Along with Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport in Russia, it is one of the closest Asian airports to North America along the great circle route used by transpacific flights, and is therefore an ideal refueling stop for many heavy cargo flights between Asia and North America.
• The airport was upgraded with additional private aircraft handling facilities for the 34th G8 summit, held in Hokkaido in 2008.