Nonstop flight route between Upington, South Africa and San Diego, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Upington Airport (UTN), Upington, South Africa and San Diego International Airport (SAN), San Diego, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,962 miles (or 16,033 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 Upington Airport and San Diego 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 Upington Airport and San Diego 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 Upington Airport (UTN):

• Upington Airport's uncommonly long runway and its strategically advantageous location, close to South Africa's northern borders, makes it ideally placed to serve the African continent.
• Upington Airport (UTN) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Upington Airport (UTN) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is nearly antipodal to Upington Airport (meaning Upington Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Princeville Airport), and is located 12,007 miles (19,323 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.
• The Concorde did flight testing at Upington Airport in June 1976.
• The closest airport to Upington Airport (UTN) is Johan Pienaar Airport (KMH), which is located 147 miles (236 kilometers) ENE of UTN.

Facts about San Diego International Airport (SAN):

• In January 2008, San Diego International Airport entered the blogosphere with the launch of the first employee blog – the Ambassablog – for a major U.S.
• San Diego International Airport (SAN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Pacific Southwest Airlines established its headquarters in San Diego and started service at Lindbergh Field in 1949.
• The closest airport to San Diego International Airport (SAN) is NAS North Island (NZY), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of SAN.
• The furthest airport from San Diego International Airport (SAN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,540 miles (18,571 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The approach from the east is steeper than most due to terrain which drops from 266 ft to sea level in less than one nautical mile.
• Inspired by Lindbergh's flight and excited to have made his plane, the city of San Diego passed a bond issue in 1928 for the construction of a two-runway municipal airport.
• Because of San Diego International Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at San Diego 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 addition to being known as "San Diego International Airport", another name for SAN is "Lindbergh Field".
• The original terminal was on the north side of the airport and was used until the 1960s.
• The airport was the first federally certified airfield to serve all aircraft types, including seaplanes.