Nonstop flight route between Kufra, Libya and Santa Barbara, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kufra Airport (AKF), Kufra, Libya and Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,721 miles (or 12,427 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 Kufra Airport and Santa Barbara 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 Kufra Airport and Santa Barbara 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 Kufra Airport (AKF):

• In addition to being known as "Kufra Airport", another name for AKF is "مطار الكفرة".
• In July 2013 Libyan Airlines re-launched the Benghasi service that was suspended nine years earlier.
• Kufra Airport (AKF) has 2 runways.
• Kufra Airport began as Buma Airfield, built in the 1930s as a minor facility by the Italians.
• The closest airport to Kufra Airport (AKF) is Sharq Al-Owainat Airport (GSQ), which is located 360 miles (580 kilometers) ESE of AKF.
• On 26 August 2008, a hijacked Sudanese Boeing 737 landed at Kufra Airport after having departed at Nyala Airport, Darfur, with destination Khartoum.
• The furthest airport from Kufra Airport (AKF) is Mangaia Island Airport (MGS), which is nearly antipodal to Kufra Airport (meaning Kufra Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mangaia Island Airport), and is located 12,261 miles (19,732 kilometers) away in Mangaia Island, Cook Islands.

Facts about Santa Barbara Airport (SBA):

• As airplane manufacturing grew in the late 1930s that airstrip developed into an airfield.
• Because of Santa Barbara Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Barbara 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.
• Until 2002 Santa Barbara Airport was on a mainline jet aircraft route between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
• American Airlines started nonstop McDonnell Douglas MD-80s to Dallas Fort-Worth International in 1984, sometimes on a triangle routing of DFW-Burbank-SBA-DFW or DFW-Bakersfield-SBA-DFW.
• The furthest airport from Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,487 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
• There are two fixed based operators on the field, Signature Flight Support and Atlantic Aviation, and three flight schools, Above All Aviation, Red Baron Aviation, and Spitfire Aviation.
• The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of SBA.