Nonstop flight route between Clayton, New Mexico, United States and Santa Maria, California, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from CAO to SMX:
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- About this route
- CAO Airport Information
- SMX Airport Information
- Facts about CAO
- Facts about SMX
- Map of Nearest Airports to CAO
- List of Nearest Airports to CAO
- Map of Furthest Airports from CAO
- List of Furthest Airports from CAO
- 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 Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO), Clayton, New Mexico, United States and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 976 miles (or 1,571 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 relatively short distance between Clayton Municipal Airpark and Santa Maria Public Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | CAO / KCAO |
Airport Name: | Clayton Municipal Airpark |
Location: | Clayton, New Mexico, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°26'47"N by 103°8'58"W |
Area Served: | Clayton, New Mexico |
Operator/Owner: | Town of Clayton |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 4970 feet (1,515 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from CAO |
More Information: | CAO Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SMX / KSMX |
Airport Names: |
|
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 Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO):
- Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,024 miles (17,741 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Because of Clayton Municipal Airpark's high elevation of 4,970 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CAO. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CAO a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Clayton Municipal Airpark (CAO) is Dalhart Municipal Airport (DHT), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) SE of CAO.
Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX):
- Allegiant Air has expanded flights between Las Vegas and Santa Maria with four nonstops per week each way.
- 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.
- Other enhancements include a new passenger terminal holding room that opened February 2008.
- Besides the current Allegiant jet service, SkyWest Airlines operating as United Express via a code sharing agreement with United Airlines flies Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops and sometimes Bombardier CRJ-200 Regional Jet nonstop to Los Angeles that served the airport for many years.
- In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
- 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.
- Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
- At one point during the early 1980's Swift Aire Lines, which was based at the nearby San Luis Obispo Airport, was the only airline flying nonstop between Santa Maria and Los Angeles, primarily with Fokker F27 Friendship turboprops which the carrier had purchased new from the manufacturer.
- 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.
- During its use by the military Santa Maria AAF also controlled Estrella Army Airfield, near Paso Robles as an auxiliary airfield to support the pilot training activity.