Nonstop flight route between Rygge (near Moss), Norway and Santa Maria, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG), Rygge (near Moss), Norway and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,353 miles (or 8,614 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 Moss Airport, Rygge 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 Moss Airport, Rygge 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 Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG):

• On 8 October 1998, the main airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway was moved from Oslo Airport, Fornebu to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen.
• The closest airport to Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG) is Sandefjord Airport, Torp (TRF), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) SW of RYG.
• Because of Moss Airport, Rygge's relatively low elevation of 173 feet, planes can take off or land at Moss Airport, Rygge 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 airport stated that at the growth rate they were experiencing, they would reach their passenger ceiling in 2009, and would not have room for any other airlines than Norwegian.
• Moss Airport, Rygge handled 1,667,705 passengers last year.
• On 12 January 2000, Københavns Lufthavne, which operates among other things Copenhagen Airport, bought 33.3% of the shares in Rygge Sivile Lufthavn.
• In November 2010, the instrument landing system was upgraded from Category I to Category II.
• The furthest airport from Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,319 miles (18,216 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In January, Rygge was, with 24,400 passengers, larger than Torp in domestic traffic.
• In addition to being known as "Moss Airport, Rygge", another name for RYG is "Moss lufthavn, Rygge".
• The airport was opened on 5 October 2007.
• From 1 September, Widerøe terminated its Copenhagen route, while Norwegian terminated its London service.
• Norwegian Air Shuttle established a base at Rygge on 14 February 2008, with a second aircraft being stationed at the airport from 13 March.
• Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX):

• At one point during the early 1980's Swift Aire Lines, which was based at the nearby San Luis Obispo Airport, was the only airline flying nonstop between Santa Maria and Los Angeles, primarily with Fokker F27 Friendship turboprops which the carrier had purchased new from the manufacturer.
• 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.
• Other enhancements include a new passenger terminal holding room that opened February 2008.
• Santa Maria Public Airport is three miles south of Santa Maria, in northern Santa Barbara County, California.
• The first airline to serve Santa Maria was Southwest Airways operating Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• The airport was built by the United States Army during World War II, known as Santa Maria Army Air Field.