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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gatwick Airport (LGW), London, England, United Kingdom and Santa Monica Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,464 miles (or 8,793 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 Gatwick 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 Gatwick 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 Gatwick Airport (LGW):

• Between 1958 and 1959, Sudan Airways and BWIA West Indies Airways were among Gatwick's first scheduled overseas airlines.
• Gatwick Airport handled 35,444,206 passengers last year.
• Although the airport was officially decommissioned in 1946, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation continued operating it as a civil airfield.
• Gatwick Airport (LGW) has 2 runways.
• A second 875-foot extension of Gatwick's runway was completed in 1970, bringing it to 9,075 ft and permitting non-stop jet flights to the US east coast with a full payload and full range and payload operations by British United Airways and Caledonian Airways BAC One-Eleven 500s.BEA Airtours made Gatwick their base.
• From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US.US Airways, Gatwick's last remaining US carrier, ended service from the airport on 30 March 2013.
• The closest airport to Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Redhill Aerodrome (KRH), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NNE of LGW.
• Because of Gatwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 203 feet, planes can take off or land at Gatwick 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 furthest airport from Gatwick Airport (LGW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,901 miles (19,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The 20th anniversary of Gatwick's reopening by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 June 1978 coincided with the introduction by BCal, British Airways Helicopters and the BAA of Airlink, a helicopter shuttle service operating 10 times daily to Heathrow.

Facts about Santa Monica Airport (SMO):

• Night Departure Curfew – No takeoffs or engine starts are permitted between 11 pm and 7 am Monday through Friday, or until 8 am on weekends.
• In 1958, Donald Douglas asked the city to lengthen the airport's runway so that Douglas Aircraft could produce and test the DC-8 there.
• Santa Monica Airport (SMO) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Monica Airport", other names for SMO include "Santa Monica Municipal Airport" and "Clover Field".
• The aviation aspects of aircraft operations at the Santa Monica Airport and use of the nation’s airspace is regulated by the federal government through the Federal Aviation Administration.
• The airport has a control tower and, on average, handled 296 operations a day.
• 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.