Nonstop flight route between Aniwa Island, Taféa, Vanuatu and Santa Maria, California, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from AWD to SMX:
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- About this route
- AWD Airport Information
- SMX Airport Information
- Facts about AWD
- Facts about SMX
- Map of Nearest Airports to AWD
- List of Nearest Airports to AWD
- Map of Furthest Airports from AWD
- List of Furthest Airports from AWD
- Map of Nearest Airports to SMX
- List of Nearest Airports to SMX
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMX
- List of Furthest Airports from SMX
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Aniwa Airport (AWD), Aniwa Island, Taféa, Vanuatu and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,913 miles (or 9,516 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 Aniwa 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 Aniwa 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | AWD / NVVB |
Airport Name: | Aniwa Airport |
Location: | Aniwa Island, Taféa, Vanuatu |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°14'3"S by 169°36'2"E |
Area Served: | Aniwa, Taféa, Vanuatu |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 69 feet (21 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from AWD |
More Information: | AWD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SMX / KSMX |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Santa Maria, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°53'56"N by 120°27'26"W |
Area Served: | Santa Maria, California |
Operator/Owner: | Santa Maria Public Airport District |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 261 feet (80 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from SMX |
More Information: | SMX Maps & Info |
Facts about Aniwa Airport (AWD):
- Because of Aniwa Airport's relatively low elevation of 69 feet, planes can take off or land at Aniwa 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.
- The furthest airport from Aniwa Airport (AWD) is Tichitt Airport (THI), which is nearly antipodal to Aniwa Airport (meaning Aniwa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tichitt Airport), and is located 12,358 miles (19,888 kilometers) away in Tichitt, Mauritania.
- The closest airport to Aniwa Airport (AWD) is Ipota Airport (IPA), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) NW of AWD.
Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX):
- 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.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
- 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).
- 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 first airline to serve Santa Maria was Southwest Airways operating Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft.
- Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
- A runway extension opened on May 3, 2012, from 6,304 ft.