Nonstop flight route between Molde, Norway and Santa Maria, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Molde Airport, Årø (MOL), Molde, Norway and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,100 miles (or 8,207 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 Molde Airport, Årø 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 Molde Airport, Årø 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 Molde Airport, Årø (MOL):

• Molde Airport, Årø is located in the town of Molde in Molde Municipality, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway.
• Because of Molde Airport, Årø's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Molde Airport, Årø 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.
• Molde Airport, Årø handled 436,471 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Molde Airport, Årø", another name for MOL is "Molde lufthavn, Årø".
• The furthest airport from Molde Airport, Årø (MOL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,120 miles (17,896 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Molde Airport, Årø (MOL) is Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget (KSU), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) NE of MOL.
• The Norwegian aviation authorities decided to build two airports in Møre og Romsdal county–one serving Ålesund and one serving Kristiansund, but not one in Molde.
• Molde Airport, Årø (MOL) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX):

• 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.
• After the war Santa Barbara County and the city of Santa Maria acquired the land and facilities through two grants in 1948.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• Besides the current Allegiant jet service, SkyWest Airlines operating as United Express via a code sharing agreement with United Airlines flies Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops and sometimes Bombardier CRJ-200 Regional Jet nonstop to Los Angeles that served the airport for many years.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
• Allegiant Air has expanded flights between Las Vegas and Santa Maria with four nonstops per week each way.
• The first airline to serve Santa Maria was Southwest Airways operating Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft.