Nonstop flight route between San Jose, California, United States and London, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), San Jose, California, United States and Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,380 miles (or 8,657 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 Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport and Gatwick 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 Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport and Gatwick 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 Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC):

• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) has 3 runways.
• American Airlines opened a hub at San Jose in 1988, using slots it obtained in the buyout of Air California in 1986.
• From 1960 to 2010 San Jose State University operated a flight-simulator facility for its aviation program in buildings at the southeast corner of the airport.
• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport handled 8,357,384 passengers last year.
• In August 2004 the city broke ground on the North Concourse, the first phase in a three-phase, nine-year expansion plan.
• Because of Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport's relatively low elevation of 62 feet, planes can take off or land at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose 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 Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,363 miles (18,287 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• SJC is a "downtown airport", unlike SFO and OAK which are on opposite shores of San Francisco Bay.
• In 2010, service expanded at SJC for the first time in several years.
• The closest airport to Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) is Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County (RHV), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) ESE of SJC.

Facts about Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US.US Airways, Gatwick's last remaining US carrier, ended service from the airport on 30 March 2013.
• Queen Elizabeth II flew into Gatwick on 9 June 1958 in a de Havilland Heron of the Queen's Flight for the opening.
• In 1935, a new airline, Allied British Airways, was formed with the merger of Hillman's Airways, United Airways and Spartan Airways.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• On 1 May 1963, non-scheduled operators began implementing the Ministry of Aviation's instruction to transfer all regular charter flights from Heathrow to Gatwick, restricting the former's use for non-scheduled operations to "occasional" charter flights.
• Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick 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.
• British Caledonian began the first transatlantic scheduled service by a private UK airline to New York and Los Angeles from Gatwick in April 1973.
• BAA Limited and its predecessors, BAA plc and the British Airports Authority, owned and operated Gatwick from 1 April 1966 to 2 December 2009.