Nonstop flight route between Ghanzi, Botswana and Santa Maria, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ghanzi Airport (GNZ), Ghanzi, Botswana and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,976 miles (or 16,055 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 Ghanzi 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 Ghanzi 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Ghanzi Airport (GNZ):

• In terms of passenger and aircraft movements, the current Ghanzi Airport can be classified as a marginal airport.
• Because of Ghanzi Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Ghanzi 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 airport has a bitumen sealed 1500 metres long and 18 metres wide runway and is designed to handle light aircraft with Maximum All Up Weight of 5700 kg.
• The closest airport to Ghanzi Airport (GNZ) is Hukuntsi Airport (HUK), which is located 159 miles (256 kilometers) S of GNZ.
• Ghanzi Airport is located about 600 km west of Gaborone, in the Ghanzi District.
• The furthest airport from Ghanzi Airport (GNZ) is Dillingham Airfield (HDH), which is nearly antipodal to Ghanzi Airport (meaning Ghanzi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dillingham Airfield), and is located 12,425 miles (19,995 kilometers) away in Mokuleia, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX):

• The airport was built by the United States Army during World War II, known as Santa Maria Army Air Field.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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).
• 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.