Nonstop flight route between Sofia, Bulgaria and Xining, Qinghai, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria and Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN), Xining, Qinghai, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,054 miles (or 6,524 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 Xining Caojiabao 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 Xining Caojiabao 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):

• On 31 August 2006, Sofia Airport put its new runway system into operation, replacing the old and out-of-date facilities.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• During the Second World War, the facilities were used by the military.
• Design and construction of a new control tower was discussed in 2006 but this project appeared to be in abeyance by 2008.
• 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.
• The infrastructure surrounding the building was expected to be completed in 2007.
• Sofia Airport, sometimes also called Sofia-Vrazhdebna Airport, is the main airport of Bulgaria.
• Service life of the new airport control tower will be more than 40 years and is designed to serve the airport with a possible extension.
• A significant and recurring operational criticism of Sofia Airport has concerned its historical lack of all-weather operations capability.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• 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.

Facts about Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN):

• Xining Caojiabao Airport handled 2,030,378 passengers last year.
• Because of Xining Caojiabao Airport's high elevation of 7,119 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at XNN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make XNN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN) is Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (LHW), which is located 88 miles (141 kilometers) E of XNN.
• In addition to being known as "Xining Caojiabao Airport", other names for XNN include "西宁曹家堡机场" and "Xīníng Cáojiābǎo Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is nearly antipodal to Xining Caojiabao Airport (meaning Xining Caojiabao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Carriel Sur International Airport), and is located 12,165 miles (19,578 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.