Nonstop flight route between San Diego, California, United States and Zürich, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Diego International Airport (SAN), San Diego, California, United States and Zurich Airport (ZRH), Zürich, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,956 miles (or 9,585 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 Zurich 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 Zurich 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 was the first federally certified airfield to serve all aircraft types, including seaplanes.
• In addition to being known as "San Diego International Airport", another name for SAN is "Lindbergh Field".
• The top five airlines by market share in 2011 are Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and Alaska Airlines.
• 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.
• Most takeoffs and landings at SAN are from east to west.
• 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.
• 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 Army Air Corps took over the field in 1942, improving it to handle the heavy bombers being manufactured in the region.
• San Diego International Airport (SAN) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The airport has domestic flights, as well as international flights to Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Japan.
• The original terminal was on the north side of the airport and was used until the 1960s.

Facts about Zurich Airport (ZRH):

• In addition to being known as "Zurich Airport", another name for ZRH is "Flughafen Zürich".
• Zurich Airport handled 24,865,138 passengers last year.
• Edelweiss Air has its head office in the Edelweiss Air Operations Center on the airport grounds.gategroup has its head office on the airport property.Helvetic Airways has its head office on the grounds of the airport in Kloten.
• The airport has three airside piers, which are known as docks A, B and E.
• The first flights off the west runway were not until 1948.
• The closest airport to Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) SSW of ZRH.
• Zurich Airport (ZRH) has 4 runways.
• The furthest airport from Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Zurich Airport (meaning Zurich Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,087 miles (19,453 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Zurich Airport, also known as Zurich Kloten Airport, is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines.