Nonstop flight route between San Francisco, California, United States and Johannesburg, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, California, United States and Grand Central Airport (GCJ), Johannesburg, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,539 miles (or 16,960 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 Francisco International Airport and Grand Central 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 Francisco International Airport and Grand Central 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 Francisco International Airport (SFO):

• The airport opened on May 7, 1927, on 150 acres of cow pasture.
• All international Star Alliance members aside from Air Canada, Asiana, and TACA use Boarding Area G.
• 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.
• In summer 2011, Lufthansa and Air France operated the Airbus A380 at SFO seasonally, the first A380 scheduled service to the airport.
• 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.
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has 4 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• Before the 1930s, airports used a two-byte abbreviation.
• San Francisco International Airport handled 44,477,209 passengers last year.
• SFO was also one of the first U.S.

Facts about Grand Central Airport (GCJ):

• The closest airport to Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) SSE of GCJ.
• Grand Central Airport (GCJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• This is a small airfield that is restricted to light aircraft only.
• The furthest airport from Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,992 miles (19,299 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• The airfield was started in the 1930s by a group of motor racing enthusiasts who were also interested in flying.
• Because of Grand Central Airport's high elevation of 5,327 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCJ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCJ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.