Nonstop flight route between Southend, Essex (near London) United Kingdom and San Francisco, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between London Southend Airport (SEN), Southend, Essex (near London) United Kingdom and San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,383 miles (or 8,663 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 London Southend Airport and San Francisco 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 London Southend Airport and San Francisco International 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 London Southend Airport (SEN):

• Construction of the current terminal was completed in February 2012, and hosts two cafés, a bar, duty-free shopping, a W H Smith newsagent, ATMs, a Moneycorp bureau de change, taxi hire, car hire from Europcar and Hertz, and an airport lounge.
• Aircraft ground handling at the airport is provided by the airport-owned Southend Handling, who also assist companies, groups or individuals in chartering aircraft to or from the airport.
• East Anglian Flying Services moved to Southend on 5 January 1947, their first scheduled service being a Southend—Rochester feeder service.
• The furthest airport from London Southend Airport (SEN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,885 miles (19,126 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of London Southend Airport's relatively low elevation of 55 feet, planes can take off or land at London Southend 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.
• National Commuter Airways operated passenger services during the 1980s, to Brussels and Jersey from Southend.
• The closest airport to London Southend Airport (SEN) is Rochester Airport (RCS), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) SSW of SEN.
• London Southend Airport handled 969,912 passengers last year.
• London Southend Airport (SEN) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about San Francisco International Airport (SFO):

• SFO is the largest airport in the Bay Area and the second busiest in California, after Los Angeles International Airport.
• SFO experiences delays in overcast weather when only two of the airport's four runways can be used at a time because the centerlines of the parallel runways are only 750 feet apart.
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has 4 runways.
• The closest airport to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is Half Moon Bay AirportHalf Moon Bay Flight Strip (HAF), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) SW of SFO.
• The first international nonstops were ANA/BCPA DC-4s to Vancouver in 1946-47.
• The furthest airport from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,290 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Terminal 2, formerly known as the "Central Terminal," opened in 1954 as the main airport terminal.
• On October 4, 2007, an Airbus A380 jumbo jet made its first visit to the airport.
• Before the 1930s, airports used a two-byte abbreviation.
• On May 12, 2008, a $383 million renovation project was announced that included a new control tower, the use of green materials, and a seismic retrofit.
• San Francisco International Airport is an international airport located 13 miles south of downtown San Francisco, California, near Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County.
• Because of San Francisco International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at San Francisco 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 Francisco International Airport handled 44,477,209 passengers last year.