Nonstop flight route between San Francisco, California, United States and Düne, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, California, United States and Heligoland Airport (HGL), Düne, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,440 miles (or 8,755 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 Heligoland 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 Heligoland 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):

• For lack of space, the terminal was built on top of the airport's main access road at enormous expense, completing the continuous ring of terminals.
• 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.
• The airport opened on May 7, 1927, on 150 acres of cow pasture.
• San Francisco International Airport handled 44,477,209 passengers last year.
• A long-planned extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to the airport opened on June 22, 2003, allowing passengers to board BART trains at the international terminal to San Francisco or the East Bay.
• 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.
• In summer 2011, Lufthansa and Air France operated the Airbus A380 at SFO seasonally, the first A380 scheduled service to the airport.
• Formerly known as the "South Terminal," Terminal 1 has Boarding Area B and Boarding Area C.
• The first international nonstops were ANA/BCPA DC-4s to Vancouver in 1946-47.

Facts about Heligoland Airport (HGL):

• Heligoland Airport (HGL) has 3 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Heligoland Airport", another name for HGL is "Flughafen Helgoland-Düne".
• The furthest airport from Heligoland Airport (HGL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,693 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Heligoland Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Heligoland 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 Heligoland Airport (HGL) is Wangerooge Airport (AGE), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) S of HGL.
• From 2005 to 2006, the main runway was extended from 400 m to 480 m for compliance with EU regulations on commercial air traffic.