Nonstop flight route between Zürich, Switzerland and Sacramento, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Zurich Airport (ZRH), Zürich, Switzerland and Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Sacramento, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,740 miles (or 9,238 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 Zurich Airport and Sacramento 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 Zurich Airport and Sacramento 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 Zurich Airport (ZRH):

• A treaty was signed in 2001, regarding the limitation of flights over Germany.
• The furthest airport from Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Zurich Airport (meaning Zurich Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,087 miles (19,453 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The first flight abroad from Switzerland was on July 21, 1921, but the search for a location for a major airport wasn’t started until 1943 inside the Canton of Zürich.
• The first flights off the west runway were not until 1948.
• The closest airport to Zurich Airport (ZRH) is Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) SSW of ZRH.
• When Swissair existed, its head office was at Zurich Airport and in Kloten.
• In addition to being known as "Zurich Airport", another name for ZRH is "Flughafen Zürich".
• Zurich Airport (ZRH) has 4 runways.
• The airport has three airside piers, which are known as docks A, B and E.
• Zurich Airport handled 24,865,138 passengers last year.

Facts about Sacramento International Airport (SMF):

• The furthest airport from Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,280 miles (18,154 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Because of Sacramento International Airport's relatively low elevation of 27 feet, planes can take off or land at Sacramento 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.
• All indoor public areas have free wi-fi provided by the Sacramento County Airport System.
• Airport security procedures were dramatically changed after September 11, 2001.
• Air Canada flew to this airport in 2007–2008 to Vancouver, but ended the route in 2008.
• In 2011 the airport carried an estimated 9 million passengers.
• The Sacramento County Airport System launched its Web site in April 1997.
• The closest airport to Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of SMF.
• Sacramento International Airport (SMF) has 2 runways.
• The consolidated rental car terminal, the first of its kind in the nation, gave all rental car customers a single point of access that could be reached on a single shuttle.
• Sacramento International Airport handled 8,910,570 passengers last year.