Nonstop flight route between Sofia, Bulgaria and Qingdao, Shandong, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria and Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO), Qingdao, Shandong, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,890 miles (or 7,870 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Qingdao Liuting 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Qingdao Liuting 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 Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• The construction of the new Sofia tower is related to the reconstruction and development of Sofia Airport and is the natural extension of the development of the airport complex.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• A significant and recurring operational criticism of Sofia Airport has concerned its historical lack of all-weather operations capability.
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Total cost of the project was planned at 200 million euros.
• On 31 August 2006, Sofia Airport put its new runway system into operation, replacing the old and out-of-date facilities.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• In mid-2012 the airport will have one of the most modern and most beautiful airport towers in Europe.

Facts about Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO):

• Qingdao Liuting International Airport handled 12,601,152 passengers last year.
• Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO) is Las Flores Airport (ELB), which is nearly antipodal to Qingdao Liuting International Airport (meaning Qingdao Liuting International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Las Flores Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,963 kilometers) away in El Banco, Colombia.
• Because of Qingdao Liuting International Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Qingdao Liuting 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.
• In December 2013, the Chinese government approved the construction of Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport which will replace Liuting as Qingdao's main airport.
• The closest airport to Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO) is Weifang Airport (WEF), which is located 75 miles (120 kilometers) WNW of TAO.
• In addition to being known as "Qingdao Liuting International Airport", other names for TAO include "青岛流亭国际机场" and "Qīngdǎo Liútíng Guójì Jīchǎng".