CA1501 distance and great-circle path
CA1501 covers 1,076 km, or 668 miles. That makes it a short-haul flight, a single-aisle hop where turnaround time matters more than range. Of the 255 routes we track, it ranks 224 by distance.
The plane leaves Beijing heading south-east. On the map above, the line looks curved. That is normal. The shortest path over a round planet never looks straight on a flat screen. Our guide explains how the PEK–SHA route appears on a tracker map.
Why CA1501 block time differs from cruise time
The schedule allows 2.2 hours from gate to gate. That works out to about 478 km/h. A Boeing 747-8I cruises faster than that. The gap is taxi time, climbing, descending and holding.
Winds aloft shift the real flight time by up to an hour in either direction. See what really moves flight times.
Can the Boeing 747-8I comfortably fly CA1501?
Not at all. At roughly 8% of its range, this is an easy trip for a Boeing 747-8I. The airline picked it for cabin size, not distance. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Boeing 747-8I.
What to know about CA1501
- Time change: none. Both cities keep the same clock, so arrival time reads exactly as you expect.