Nonstop flight route between San Jose, California, United States and Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), San Jose, California, United States and Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA), Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,364 miles (or 11,851 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 Lhasa Gonggar 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 Lhasa Gonggar 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):

• SJC suffered with many mid-tier airports during the 2008 rise in oil prices as airlines reduced marginal services.
• In September 2009, San Jose Airport Management announced the 90-day closure of the general aviation runway 11/29 as part of a reconstruction project.
• 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.
• 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 runway that became 12R/30L was 4,500 feet until about 1962—Brokaw Rd was the northwest boundary of the airport.
• 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.
• After the September 11 attacks and the dot-com bubble burst in 2001, the city lost several flights.
• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) has 3 runways.
• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport handled 8,357,384 passengers last year.

Facts about Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA):

• Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) is Shigatse Peace Airport (RKZ), which is located 97 miles (156 kilometers) W of LXA.
• The airport has parking facilities for five Airbus A340 or seven Boeing 757 aircraft.
• Because of Lhasa Gonggar Airport's high elevation of 11,713 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LXA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LXA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• A night landing facility was created by fixing navigational lighting facilities on the runway at a cost of 99 million yuan only in 2007.
• The furthest airport from Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is located 11,377 miles (18,309 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Lhasa Gonggar Airport", other names for LXA include "拉萨贡嘎机场ལྷ་ས་གོང་དཀར་རྫོང་" and "Lāsà Gònggá Jīchǎnglha sa gong kar dzong".
• In 1965 the Gonggar Airport was constructed.
• A new highway between Lhasa and the Gonggar Airport has been built by the Transportation Department of Tibet at a cost of RMB 1.5 billion yuan.