Nonstop flight route between San Francisco, California, United States and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, California, United States and Glasgow International Airport (GLA), Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,024 miles (or 8,086 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 Glasgow 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 San Francisco International Airport and Glasgow 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 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.
• 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 handled 44,477,209 passengers last year.
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has 4 runways.
• 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.
• In 1954 the airport's Central Passenger Terminal opened.
• On October 4, 2007, an Airbus A380 jumbo jet made its first visit to the airport.
• SFO was one of the first airports to implement a Fly Quiet Program which grades individual air carriers on their performance on noise abatement procedures while flying in and out of SFO.
• All international Star Alliance members aside from Air Canada, Asiana, and TACA use Boarding Area G.
• 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.

Facts about Glasgow International Airport (GLA):

• Glasgow International Airport handled 7,363,764 passengers last year.
• In 2007, Glasgow became the second busiest airport in Scotland as passenger numbers were surpassed by those at Edinburgh Airport.
• Because of Glasgow International Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Glasgow 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 first commercial flight to arrive was a British European Airways flight from Edinburgh, landing at 8 am on 2 May 1966.
• The closest airport to Glasgow International Airport (GLA) is Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SSW of GLA.
• Further growth is hampered by the airport's location, which is constrained by the M8 motorway to the south, the town of Renfrew to the east and the River Clyde to the north.
• The furthest airport from Glasgow International Airport (GLA) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,739 miles (18,892 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• An extended terminal building was created by building a pre-fabricated metal structure around the front of the original Basil Spence building, hence screening much of its distinctive Brutalist style architecture from view, with the void between the two structures joined by a glass atrium and walkway.
• Glasgow International Airport (GLA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Glasgow International Airport", another name for GLA is "Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Ghlaschu".
• The Royal Navy left in October 1963.