Nonstop flight route between Milford Sound, New Zealand and Santa Barbara, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Milford Sound Airport (MFN), Milford Sound, New Zealand and Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,090 miles (or 11,411 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 Milford Sound 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 Milford Sound 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 Milford Sound Airport (MFN):

• Because of Milford Sound Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Milford Sound 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.
• Prior to the ability of air operations, Milford Sound had no access in the winter months as the roads became impassable.
• Post war pilot Fred ‘Popeye’ Lucas was the next to land an aircraft in Milford.
• The furthest airport from Milford Sound Airport (MFN) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Milford Sound Airport (meaning Milford Sound Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,230 miles (19,682 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• 5Milford Sound Flightseeing
• Milford Sound Airport (MFN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Milford Sound Airport (MFN) is Queenstown Airport (ZQN), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) ESE of MFN.

Facts about Santa Barbara Airport (SBA):

• As airplane manufacturing grew in the late 1930s that airstrip developed into an airfield.
• The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of 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.
• In addition to regularly scheduled flights offered by other airlines, Surf Air operates service to Burbank and San Carlos in California using seven seat Pilatus PC-12 turboprops via a membership only, pay-as-you-fly program.
• In 1947 the Santa Barbara Flying Club was formed to promote general aviation in the region.
• The largest passenger jet currently serving Santa Barbara is the Airbus A319 operated by Frontier Airlines nonstop to Denver.
• 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.
• Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
• Five airlines serve the Airport as of July 2013 with non-stop flights to Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma.