Nonstop flight route between Fangatau, French Polynesia and Santa Barbara, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fangatau Airport (FGU), Fangatau, French Polynesia and Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,737 miles (or 6,014 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 Fangatau Airport and Santa Barbara 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 Fangatau Airport and Santa Barbara 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 Fangatau Airport (FGU):

• The closest airport to Fangatau Airport (FGU) is Raroia Airport (RRR), which is located 107 miles (172 kilometers) W of FGU.
• Fangatau Airport (FGU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Fangatau Airport (FGU) is Massawa International Airport (MSW), which is nearly antipodal to Fangatau Airport (meaning Fangatau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Massawa International Airport), and is located 12,417 miles (19,984 kilometers) away in Massawa, Eritrea.
• Because of Fangatau Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Fangatau 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 "Fangatau Airport", another name for FGU is "Aérodrome de Fangatau".

Facts about Santa Barbara Airport (SBA):

• Because of Santa Barbara Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Barbara 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.
• American Airlines started nonstop McDonnell Douglas MD-80s to Dallas Fort-Worth International in 1984, sometimes on a triangle routing of DFW-Burbank-SBA-DFW or DFW-Bakersfield-SBA-DFW.
• The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of SBA.
• With the outbreak of WWII the airport became MCAS Santa Barbara in 1942, an aviator training base for the U.S Marines.
• As airplane manufacturing grew in the late 1930s that airstrip developed into an airfield.
• The furthest airport from Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,487 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• On August 18, 2011 the airport opened a new 72,000 square foot terminal to add to the single story terminal built by United Airlines in 1942.
• Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
• In the 1951 war film Flying Leathernecks, John Wayne's character was stationed in Goleta.
• Santa Barbara Municipal Airport is a public airport 7 miles west of downtown Santa Barbara, California, United States.