Nonstop flight route between Shanghai, China and Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA), Shanghai, China and Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,084 miles (or 13,009 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 Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Patrick Air Force Base, 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 Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Patrick Air Force Base. 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 Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA):

• In addition to being known as "Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport", other names for SHA include "上海虹桥国际机场" and "Shànghǎi Hóngqiáo Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA) has 2 runways.
• Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport handled 33,851,200 passengers last year.
• Because of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Shanghai Hongqiao 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.
• On 1 January 2013, holders of passports issued by 45 countries do not need a visa if transiting through Hongqiao Airport provided they hold valid passports.
• The closest airport to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA) is Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) E of SHA.
• The furthest airport from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA) is Comodoro Pierrestegui Airport (COC), which is nearly antipodal to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (meaning Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Comodoro Pierrestegui Airport), and is located 12,397 miles (19,951 kilometers) away in Concordia, Entre Ríos, Argentina.
• Hongqiao Airport served as Shanghai's primary airport until the completion of Pudong International Airport in 1999, when almost all international flights were moved to Pudong.

Facts about Patrick Air Force Base (COF):

• The 9/11 attacks prompted the Air Force to close the heavily used 4-lane State Road A1A, which ran immediately in front of the AFTAC Headquarters building.
• Three months after World War II, on December 5, 1945, NAS Banana River had an ancillary role in the disappearance of Flight 19, a formation of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, which had departed NAS Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a routine over-water training mission.
• NAS Banana River was transferred to the United States Air Force on September 1, 1948 and renamed the Joint Long Range Proving Ground on June 10, 1949.
• The closest airport to Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Merritt Island Airport (COI), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NNW of COF.
• In addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".
• The furthest airport from Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,550 miles (18,587 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The host wing for Patrick AFB is the 45th Space Wing, whose officers and airmen manage all launches of unmanned rockets at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 12 miles to the north.
• Authorized by the Naval Expansion Act of 1938, Naval Air Station Banana River was commissioned on October 1, 1940 as a subordinate base of the Naval Air Operational Training Command NAS Jacksonville, Florida.