Nonstop flight route between San Diego, California, United States and Beijing, People's Republic of China:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SDM to PEK:
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- About this route
- SDM Airport Information
- PEK Airport Information
- Facts about SDM
- Facts about PEK
- 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 PEK
- List of Nearest Airports to PEK
- Map of Furthest Airports from PEK
- List of Furthest Airports from PEK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM), San Diego, California, United States and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), Beijing, People's Republic of China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,362 miles (or 10,239 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 Beijing Capital International 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 Beijing Capital International 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: | PEK / ZBAA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Beijing, People's Republic of China |
GPS Coordinates: | 40°4'47"N by 116°35'3"E |
Area Served: | Beijing |
Operator/Owner: | Beijing Capital International Airport Company Limited |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 116 feet (35 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from PEK |
More Information: | PEK Maps & Info |
Facts about Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Brown Field is 1.5 miles north of the US/Mexico border in the Otay Mesa Community of the City of San Diego.
- 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.
- Brown Field Municipal Airport is in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of San Diego, California, 13 miles southeast of Downtown San Diego and named in honor of Commander Melville S.
- Tijuana Airport, an airline airport, is just over 1 nmi to the south across the Mexico-United States border, with a similar length and a slightly different runway orientation.
- Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM) has 2 runways.
Facts about Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK):
- Beijing Capital International Airport handled 83,712,355 passengers last year.
- The furthest airport from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport (VDM), which is nearly antipodal to Beijing Capital International Airport (meaning Beijing Capital International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport), and is located 12,378 miles (19,920 kilometers) away in Viedma, Argentina.
- Because of Beijing Capital International Airport's relatively low elevation of 116 feet, planes can take off or land at Beijing Capital 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 addition to being known as "Beijing Capital International Airport", other names for PEK include "北京首都国际机场" and "Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng".
- An indoor garden is constructed in the T3E waiting area, in the style of imperial gardens such as the Summer Palace.
- Terminal 3 of the BCIA is currently the second largest airport passenger terminal building of the world.
- Terminal 2 opened on 1 November 1999, with a floor area of 336,000 m2.
- Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) has 3 runways.
- The closest airport to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is Beijing Nanyuan Airport (NAY), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) SSW of PEK.
- On 20 July 2013, a man in a wheelchair detonated small homemade explosives which exploded on Terminal 3 in the Beijing International Airport.
- To accommodate the growing traffic volume, Beijing Capital added the enormous Terminal 3 in 2008 in time for the Olympic Games, the second largest airport terminal in the world after Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3, and the sixth largest building in the world by area.