Nonstop flight route between Armidale, New South Wales, Australia and Santa Maria, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Armidale Airport (ARM), Armidale, New South Wales, Australia and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,280 miles (or 11,717 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 Armidale Airport and Santa Maria Public 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 Armidale Airport and Santa Maria Public 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 Armidale Airport (ARM):

• Impulse Airlines operated services to Sydney and Brisbane from 1994 until it was taken over by Qantas in 2001.
• Regional Express Airlines operated to Sydney in competition with QantasLink between 2004 and 2006, however the airline withdrew the services citing a lack of demand on the loss making route.
• Armidale Airport (ARM) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Armidale Airport (ARM) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is located 11,955 miles (19,239 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Armidale Airport (ARM) is Inverell Airport (IVR), which is located 52 miles (84 kilometers) NNW of ARM.
• Armidale Airport was ranked 45th in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2012-2013.

Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX):

• The first airline to serve Santa Maria was Southwest Airways operating Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft.
• The airport was built by the United States Army during World War II, known as Santa Maria Army Air Field.
• A 4,000-square-foot baggage claim facility opened in 2007.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
• Because of Santa Maria Public Airport's relatively low elevation of 261 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Maria Public 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.
• A runway extension opened on May 3, 2012, from 6,304 ft.
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,466 miles (18,453 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSW of SMX.
• The extended primary runway at Santa Maria is paved to 8,004 feet, giving the airport the longest civil runway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the central coast and Vandenberg AFB's runway are longer).