Nonstop flight route between San Francisco, California, United States and Lukla, Nepal:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SFO to LUA:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- SFO Airport Information
- LUA Airport Information
- Facts about SFO
- Facts about LUA
- Map of Nearest Airports to SFO
- List of Nearest Airports to SFO
- Map of Furthest Airports from SFO
- List of Furthest Airports from SFO
- Map of Nearest Airports to LUA
- List of Nearest Airports to LUA
- Map of Furthest Airports from LUA
- List of Furthest Airports from LUA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, California, United States and Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA), Lukla, Nepal would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,546 miles (or 12,145 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 Tenzing-Hillary 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 Tenzing-Hillary Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SFO / KSFO |
Airport Name: | San Francisco International Airport |
Location: | San Francisco, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°37'8"N by 122°22'30"W |
Area Served: | San Francisco |
Operator/Owner: | City & County of San Francisco |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 13 feet (4 meters) |
# of Runways: | 4 |
View all routes: | Routes from SFO |
More Information: | SFO Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | LUA / VNLK |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Lukla, Nepal |
GPS Coordinates: | 27°41'14"N by 86°43'54"E |
Area Served: | Lukla, Nepal |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 9383 feet (2,860 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from LUA |
More Information: | LUA Maps & Info |
Facts about San Francisco International Airport (SFO):
- In 1989 a master plan and Environmental Impact Report were prepared to guide development over the next two decades.
- 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 San Francisco International Airport BART station, located in Parking Garage G of the International Terminal, is the only direct rail link between the airport, the city of San Francisco, and the general Bay Area.
- 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 has four terminals and seven concourses arranged in a ring.
- San Francisco International Airport handled 44,477,209 passengers last year.
- 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.
- Formerly known as the "South Terminal," Terminal 1 has Boarding Area B and Boarding Area C.
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has 4 runways.
- Before the 1930s, airports used a two-byte abbreviation.
Facts about Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA):
- The furthest airport from Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,446 miles (18,421 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
- In January 2008 the airport was renamed in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest and also to mark their efforts in the construction of this airport.
- Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA) is Phaplu Airport (PPL), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) SW of LUA.
- Because of Tenzing-Hillary Airport's high elevation of 9,383 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LUA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LUA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- In addition to being known as "Tenzing-Hillary Airport", another name for LUA is "तेन्जिङ हिलारी विमानस्थल".
- Tenzing-Hillary Airport, also known as Lukla Airport, is a small airport in the town of Lukla, in Khumbu, Solukhumbu district, Sagarmatha zone, eastern Nepal.
- The airport's paved asphalt runway is only accessible to helicopters and small, fixed-wing, short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft such as the De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, Dornier Do 228, and Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter.
- Aircraft can only use runway 06 for landings and runway 24 for takeoffs.There is no prospect of a successful go-around on short final due to the terrain.
- The airport is popular because Lukla is the place where most people start the climb to Mount Everest Base Camp.