Nonstop flight route between San José, Costa Rica and Essex (near London), England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (SJO), San José, Costa Rica and London Stansted Airport (STN), Essex (near London), England, United Kingdom 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 Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) and London Stansted 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 Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) and London Stansted 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 Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (SJO):

• The furthest airport from Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (SJO) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (meaning Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,270 miles (19,746 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Only passengers that show a ticket are allowed to enter the terminal.
• The closest airport to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (SJO) is Tobías Bolaños International Airport (SYQ), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) ESE of SJO.
• In addition to being known as "Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)", another name for SJO is "Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría".
• Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) handled 4,257,606 passengers last year.
• Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (SJO) currently has only 1 runway.
• No major changes were made to the terminal until November 1997 when the government issued a decree requesting participation of private companies to manage the operations of the airport.
• The major operator in the airport is Avianca, followed by Copa Airlines.

Facts about London Stansted Airport (STN):

• After the withdrawal of the Americans on 12 August 1945, Stansted was taken over by the Air Ministry and used by No.
• The furthest airport from London Stansted Airport (STN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,858 miles (19,084 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Beginning in 1966, after Stansted was placed under BAA control, the airport was used by holiday charter operators wishing to escape the higher costs associated with operating from Heathrow and Gatwick.
• In 2007 passenger numbers peaked at nearly 24 million, but then declined for 5 years and in 2012 the total was around 17.5 million.
• There are several cargo buildings and hangars around the airfield.
• From 1997 to 2007 Stansted saw rapid expansion of passenger numbers on the back of the boom in low cost air travel, peaking at 24 million passengers in the 12 months to October 2007, but passenger numbers declined for the subsequent five years to 2012.
• Because of London Stansted Airport's relatively low elevation of 348 feet, planes can take off or land at London Stansted 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 London Stansted Airport (STN) is MDPGA Wethersfield (WXF), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) ENE of STN.
• The Competition Commission ruled in March 2009 that BAA should sell Gatwick and Stansted Airports within two years.
• London Stansted Airport (STN) currently has only 1 runway.
• London Stansted Airport handled 17,852,393 passengers last year.