Nonstop flight route between San Diego, California, United States and Frankfurt, Germany:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SDM to FRA:
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- About this route
- SDM Airport Information
- FRA Airport Information
- Facts about SDM
- Facts about FRA
- Map of Nearest Airports to SDM
- List of Nearest Airports to SDM
- Map of Furthest Airports from SDM
- List of Furthest Airports from SDM
- Map of Nearest Airports to FRA
- List of Nearest Airports to FRA
- Map of Furthest Airports from FRA
- List of Furthest Airports from FRA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM), San Diego, California, United States and Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Frankfurt, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,830 miles (or 9,383 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 Brown Field Municipal Airport and Frankfurt 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 Brown Field Municipal Airport and Frankfurt Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SDM / KSDM |
Airport Name: | Brown Field Municipal Airport |
Location: | San Diego, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 32°34'19"N by 116°58'49"W |
Area Served: | San Diego, California |
Operator/Owner: | City of San Diego |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 526 feet (160 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from SDM |
More Information: | SDM Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FRA / EDDF |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Frankfurt, Germany |
GPS Coordinates: | 50°1'59"N by 8°34'14"E |
Area Served: | Frankfurt, Germany |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 364 feet (111 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from FRA |
More Information: | FRA Maps & Info |
Facts about Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM):
- Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM) has 2 runways.
- A precision approach is not possible to either runway end due to rising terrain less than six miles east of the airport.
- The closest airport to Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM) is Tijuana International Airport (TIJ), which is located only 2 miles (4 kilometers) SSE of SDM.
- Brown Field is 1.5 miles north of the US/Mexico border in the Otay Mesa Community of the City of San Diego.
- Because of Brown Field Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 526 feet, planes can take off or land at Brown Field Municipal 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 1951 the Navy reopened Brown Field due to increased military activity from the Korean War.
- On March 16, 1991, seven members of Reba McEntire's band and her road manager were among 10 people who died in the crash of a plane that departed from Brown Field.
- The furthest airport from Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,551 miles (18,590 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
Facts about Frankfurt Airport (FRA):
- Because of Frankfurt Airport's relatively low elevation of 364 feet, planes can take off or land at Frankfurt 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 Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is Lucius D. Clay KaserneWiesbaden Army AirfieldWiesbaden Air BaseAdvanced Landing Ground Y-80Fliegerhorst Wiesbaden (WIE), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of FRA.
- The airport is centrally located in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, Germany's second-largest metropolitan region, which itself has a central location in the densely populated region of the west-central European megalopolis.
- The airport did not emerge as a major international airline hub until 1958 when a new passenger terminal called Empfangsanlage Ost opened in the north-east corner of the airport ground.
- After the beginning of World War II in 1939 all foreign airlines left the airport and control of air traffic was transferred to the Luftwaffe.
- The furthest airport from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,946 miles (19,225 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Passengers and visitors can change terminals with the people mover system SkyLine which has stops at Terminal 1 AZ, Terminal 1 BC and Terminal 2 DE.
- Frankfurt Airport (FRA) has 3 runways.
- Frankfurt Airport handled 5,752,725 passengers last year.
- The runway officially went into operation on 20 October 2011, with an aircraft carrying Chancellor Angela Merkel performing the first landing on 21 October.
- In addition to being known as "Frankfurt Airport", another name for FRA is "Flughafen Frankfurt am Main".