Nonstop flight route between Xining, Qinghai, China and St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN), Xining, Qinghai, China and RAF Leuchars (ADX), St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,671 miles (or 7,517 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 Xining Caojiabao Airport and RAF Leuchars, 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 Xining Caojiabao Airport and RAF Leuchars. 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 Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN):

• The closest airport to Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN) is Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport (LHW), which is located 88 miles (141 kilometers) E of XNN.
• Xining Caojiabao Airport (XNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 handled 2,030,378 passengers last year.
• 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.

Facts about RAF Leuchars (ADX):

• Leuchars was home to the last squadron of Panavia Tornado F3s, No.
• Leuchars is also the base for No.
• As the Navy embraced the value of aviation, the aircraft carrier was added to its inventory.
• The Phantoms of 43 Squadron and 111 Squadron were replaced by Tornado F3s during 1989-1990s.
• As the Cold War reached its frostiest depths in the 1960s the development of long range aircraft allowed the Soviets regular incursion into British air space.
• Approximately 45,000 people attended the 2010 show to see displays including the Red Arrows, Eurofighter Typhoon, and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
• The closest airport to RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Dundee Airport (DND), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NW of ADX.
• The furthest airport from RAF Leuchars (ADX) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,678 miles (18,793 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The other operational UK air defence base since June 2007 is RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, which operates the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4.