Nonstop flight route between Cortez, Colorado, United States and Santa Maria, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cortez Municipal Airport (CEZ), Cortez, Colorado, United States and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 680 miles (or 1,095 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 Cortez Municipal Airport and Santa Maria Public Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Cortez Municipal Airport (CEZ):

• The furthest airport from Cortez Municipal Airport (CEZ) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,132 miles (17,915 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Cortez Municipal Airport (CEZ) is Animas Air Park (AMK), which is located 42 miles (68 kilometers) E of CEZ.
• Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 8,401 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 7,698 in 2009 and 6,342 in 2010.
• Cortez Municipal Airport is three miles southwest of Cortez, in Montezuma County, Colorado.
• Because of Cortez Municipal Airport's high elevation of 5,918 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CEZ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CEZ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Cortez Municipal Airport (CEZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• A Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft made an emergency nighttime forced landing August 3, 1959, at the Cortez Municipal Airport.

Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (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 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.
• 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.
• Allegiant Air has expanded flights between Las Vegas and Santa Maria with four nonstops per week each way.
• 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 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.