Nonstop flight route between Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Mountain View, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,036 miles (or 8,104 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 Moffett Federal Airfield, 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 Moffett Federal Airfield. 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):

• 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.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• CityJet launched a twice-daily route to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2008 when Aer Lingus closed its London Heathrow flights.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• Shannon began to rebound in the late 1990s with the success of the Irish economy, the improving situation in Northern Ireland, and an influx of American tourists.
• Aer Arann launched services to 4 UK destinations in 2010 under the Aer Lingus Regional Banner.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• 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.
• In 1958, the Irish airline Aer Lingus began transatlantic service to the United States, using Lockheed Super Constellations for thrice-weekly service to New York City and Boston.
• 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.

Facts about Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):

• Narrow gauge tracks run through the length of the hangar.
• In 1931, the city of Sunnyvale acquired a 1,000 acres parcel of farmland bordering San Francisco Bay, paid for with nearly $480,000 raised by the citizens of Santa Clara County, then "sold" the parcel for $1 to the US government as a home base for the Navy airship USS Macon.
• In 2008, the Ames Research Center leased 42 acres around the field to Google.
• In August 2008, the Navy proposed simply stripping the toxic coating from the hangar and leaving the skeleton after spraying it with a preservative.
• The closest airport to Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NW of NUQ.
• Moffett Federal Airfield, also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military airport located between southern Mountain View and northern Sunnyvale, California, USA.
• Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,290 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Because of Moffett Federal Airfield's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Moffett Federal Airfield 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 Hangars One, Two, and Three, and the adjacent Shenandoah Plaza are collectively designated as a National Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• In 1960, the nearby Air Force Satellite Test Center, was created adjacent to NAS Moffett Field.