Nonstop flight route between Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and Santa Paula, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK), Prestwick (near Glasgow), Scotland, United Kingdom and Santa Paula Airport (SZP), Santa Paula, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,130 miles (or 8,257 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 Glasgow-Prestwick Airport and Santa Paula 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 Glasgow-Prestwick Airport and Santa Paula 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 Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK):

• In the beginning Prestwick was the only Scottish airport allowed to operate a transatlantic link, largely due to the benign weather conditions on the Ayrshire coast.
• Since 2007 the airport has occasionally been used by BBC motoring TV show Top Gear as the location for various stunts and experiments.
• In physical terms, Prestwick is Scotland's largest commercial airfield, although in passenger traffic terms it sits in fourth place after Edinburgh Airport, Glasgow International, and Aberdeen Airport.
• The furthest airport from Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,764 miles (18,932 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Scottish Aviation built a factory using the original terminal building and hangars at Prestwick, which from 1974 produced such aircraft as the Prestwick Pioneers, and later the Jetstream and Bulldog.
• Because of Glasgow-Prestwick Airport's relatively low elevation of 65 feet, planes can take off or land at Glasgow-Prestwick 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.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport handled 1,145,836 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) is Glasgow International Airport (GLA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) NNE of PIK.
• The United States Air Force operated a base in 1952 on the site of the original airport using former Royal Air Force facilities 1631st Air Base Squadron), and in 1953 on the Monkton side of the airport, both used by the USAF MATS.
• Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) has 2 runways.
• Today BAE Systems retains a small facility at Prestwick for its BAE Systems Regional Aircraft division, with the adjoining main manufacturing site, producing components for Airbus and Boeing aircraft, having been sold to Spirit AeroSystems in January 2006.
• In 1991 the newly privatised British Airports Authority, BAA Limited, consolidated their portfolio of UK airports.

Facts about Santa Paula Airport (SZP):

• A view from the hangars on the Northwest side of the airport.
• Because of Santa Paula Airport's relatively low elevation of 243 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Paula 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.
• Today Santa Paula Airport is a non-towered facility handling approximately 97,000 arrivals and/or departures a year, and is home to over 309 individual aircraft.
• The closest airport to Santa Paula Airport (SZP) is Oxnard Airport (OXR), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of SZP.
• The furthest airport from Santa Paula Airport (SZP) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,476 miles (18,469 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Santa Paula Airport is a privately owned, public use airport located one nautical mile southeast of the central business district of Santa Paula, a city in Ventura County, California, United States.
• The Aviation Museum of Santa Paula is headquartered at the airport.
• CP Aviation, seen from the South end of the airport.
• Santa Paula Airport (SZP) currently has only 1 runway.