Nonstop flight route between Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Hangzhou, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH), Hangzhou, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,947 miles (or 9,571 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 Shannon Airport and Hangzhou Xiaoshan International 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 Shannon Airport and Hangzhou Xiaoshan International 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 Shannon Airport (SNN):

• In the late 1930s, transatlantic air traffic was dominated by flying boats, and a flying boat terminal was located at Foynes on the south side of the Shannon Estuary.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• It has been hinted that a route to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol or Frankfurt Airport could commence in 2015.
• In 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport.
• The furthest airport from Shannon Airport (SNN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Shannon Airport (meaning Shannon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,015 miles (19,336 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Shannon continued to expand during the Celtic Tiger years with many services operated to the US and Canada.
• Because of Shannon Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Shannon 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.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• In November 2013, Aer Lingus announced a new twice-weekly service from Shannon to Malaga.
• The last quarter of 2012 saw a resurgence for Shannon, with new services announced for Philadelphia and Chicago, a return of Aer Lingus to JFK and Boston, and Delta to JFK, giving Shannon direct services to five US airports for 2013.
• The first passengers through the newly autonomous airport arrived on the Aer Lingus EI-110 flight from JFK at 5:08 am on 1 January 2013.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".

Facts about Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH):

• Phase One of the airport occupies 7,260 acres of land.
• Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH) is Yiwu Airport (YIW), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) SSW of HGH.
• In addition to being known as "Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport", other names for HGH include "杭州萧山国际机场" and "Hángzhōu Xiāoshān Guójì Jīchǎng".
• There are airport bus services linking the airport to points throughout Zhejiang and cities in Jiangsu.
• Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport handled 22,114,103 passengers last year.
• The airport has service to destinations throughout China.
• Because of Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Hangzhou Xiaoshan 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 Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH) is Reconquista Airport (RCQ), which is nearly antipodal to Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (meaning Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Reconquista Airport), and is located 12,366 miles (19,901 kilometers) away in Reconquista, Santa Fe, Argentina.