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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Sacramento, California, United States and Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA), Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,293 miles (or 11,737 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 Sacramento 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 Sacramento 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 Sacramento International Airport (SMF):

• The Sacramento County Airport System launched its Web site in April 1997.
• Sacramento International Airport (SMF) has 2 runways.
• US Airways previously flew to Las Vegas, but ended service after closing its Las Vegas hub.
• Long dominated by Southwest and United, the intra-California market was joined in 2011 by American and Delta which fly from Los Angeles International Airport.
• The furthest airport from Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,280 miles (18,154 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Sacramento County has tried to entice Virgin America into adding a Los Angeles route by giving them 400,000 dollars to operate out of terminal A or 150,000 dollars to operate in terminal B.
• In the 1990s the consolidated rental car facility and Terminal A opened, which was designed by Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects.
• The closest airport to Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of SMF.
• Because of Sacramento International Airport's relatively low elevation of 27 feet, planes can take off or land at Sacramento 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.
• Sacramento International Airport handled 8,910,570 passengers last year.

Facts about Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA):

• Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• The airport is connected to the rest of China, which includes cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Chongqing, Xian, Xining, Kunming, Diqing and Chamdo Region.
• The closest airport to Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA) is Shigatse Peace Airport (RKZ), which is located 97 miles (156 kilometers) W of LXA.
• 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.
• Building an airport in Tibet, which is termed in flying parlance as going over a "hump" in the Tibetan Plateau, has gone through a process of trial and error through many hazardous air routes and several fatal accidents during World War II.
• 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".