Nonstop flight route between Birmingham, England, United Kingdom and Santa Monica, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Birmingham Airport (BHX), Birmingham, England, United Kingdom and Santa Monica Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,354 miles (or 8,617 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 Birmingham Airport and Santa Monica 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 Birmingham Airport and Santa Monica 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 Birmingham Airport (BHX):

• National Express West Midlands operates the main bus routes calling at Birmingham Airport, those being the 900 to Birmingham city centre and Coventry, and the 966 to Erdington and Solihull.
• Because of Birmingham Airport's relatively low elevation of 341 feet, planes can take off or land at Birmingham 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 Birmingham Airport (BHX) is Coventry Airport (CVT), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) ESE of BHX.
• It's also been estimated that if these plans were to go ahead, the airport could handle around 70,000,000 passengers annually, and around 500,000 aircraft movements.
• Although initial plans for a second runway were scrapped, this is now firmly back on the airports agenda ahead of the report into Britains aviation strategy being published.
• As part of the proposed High Speed Two rail link, a new railway station called Birmingham Interchange would be built to serve both the airport and the National Exhibition Centre.
• The airport offers both domestic flights within the UK, and international flights to destinations in Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, North America and the Caribbean.
• Originally, the target for completion was in time for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics.
• Building a new control tower for the airport began in July 2011, to replace the old tower which has stood at the airport since it was opened in 1939.
• The furthest airport from Birmingham Airport (BHX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,858 miles (19,084 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Birmingham Airport handled 9,120,201 passengers last year.
• In January 2011, the airport merged its two terminals into a Single Terminal Building.
• Birmingham Airport (BHX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The runway extension will be officially opened on 22 July 2014 and will be marked by a series of charter flights operated by China Southern Airlines to Beijing.

Facts about Santa Monica Airport (SMO):

• In 2015, the City of Santa Monica's settlement agreement with the FAA concerning the airport expires.
• The closest airport to Santa Monica Airport (SMO) is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSE of SMO.
• Operational Limitations – Touch-and-go, stop-and-go, and low approaches are prohibited on weekends, holidays, and weekdays from one-half hour after sunset until 7 am the following day.
• Santa Monica Airport (SMO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Originally Clover Field, after World War I aviator 2nd lieutenant Greayer "Grubby" Clover, the airport was the home of the Douglas Aircraft company.
• Typhoon is the only restaurant on the airport property with a runway view and Spitfire Grill is across on Airport Avenue.
• The furthest airport from Santa Monica Airport (SMO) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,484 miles (18,481 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Because of Santa Monica Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Monica 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Monica Airport", other names for SMO include "Santa Monica Municipal Airport" and "Clover Field".