Nonstop flight route between Luqa, Malta and Sacramento, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malta International Airport (MLA), Luqa, Malta and Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Sacramento, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,573 miles (or 10,577 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 Malta International Airport and Sacramento International 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 Malta International Airport and Sacramento International 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 Malta International Airport (MLA):

• In addition to being known as "Malta International Airport", other names for MLA include "Luqa Airport" and "Valletta Airport".
• Services run between 2300 and 0400 on Friday and Saturday evenings, all year round.
• The furthest airport from Malta International Airport (MLA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,639 miles (18,731 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Malta International Airport handled 405,200 passengers last year.
• Malta International Airport (MLA) has 2 runways.
• Shops at the airport include news kiosk, florist and tax-free outlets, Food and Beverage outlets.
• The closest airport to Malta International Airport (MLA) is Xewkija / Gozo Heliport (GZM), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) NW of MLA.
• The foundation stone of the present air terminal was laid in September 1989 and inaugurated in record time 29 months later in February 1992.
• Because of Malta International Airport's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Malta International 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 MetOffice is able to get information from the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología in Madrid and the UK's Met Office along with numerical weather models such as those provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in Reading, England.

Facts about Sacramento International Airport (SMF):

• The furthest airport from Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,280 miles (18,154 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of SMF.
• Because of Sacramento International Airport's relatively low elevation of 27 feet, planes can take off or land at Sacramento International 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.
• California Pacific Airlines hopes to fly between Sacramento and Carlsbad in southern California in 2013.
• The Sacramento County Airport System launched its Web site in April 1997.
• Sacramento International Airport (SMF) has 2 runways.
• Sacramento hosted one of Alaska Airlines' last MD-80 flights, Sacramento to Seattle.
• Long dominated by Southwest and United, the intra-California market was joined in 2011 by American and Delta which fly from Los Angeles International Airport.
• Sacramento International Airport handled 8,910,570 passengers last year.