Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Bristol, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Bristol Airport (BRS), Bristol, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,393 miles (or 8,679 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 Santa Barbara Airport and Bristol 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 Santa Barbara Airport and Bristol 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 Santa Barbara Airport (SBA):

• On August 18, 2011 the airport opened a new 72,000 square foot terminal to add to the single story terminal built by United Airlines in 1942.
• 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.
• There are two fixed based operators on the field, Signature Flight Support and Atlantic Aviation, and three flight schools, Above All Aviation, Red Baron Aviation, and Spitfire Aviation.
• In the 1951 war film Flying Leathernecks, John Wayne's character was stationed in Goleta.
• Five airlines serve the Airport as of July 2013 with non-stop flights to Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma.
• 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.

Facts about Bristol Airport (BRS):

• Bristol Airport handled 6,131,896 passengers last year.
• In 1988 the airport opened a new concourse area.
• Whitchurch airport continued to be used after World War II, but the introduction of heavier post-war airliners made a runway extension highly desirable.
• In January 2001 the airport was purchased for £198m, by a joint venture of Macquarie Bank and Cintra, part of the Ferrovial group.
• In 1944, BOAC started to use the airfield for Dakota and Liberator crew training, and BOAC flights made use of it occasionally as an alternate airfield for Whitchurch, and for topping-up fuel on the Bristol–Lisbon route.
• Because of Bristol Airport's relatively low elevation of 622 feet, planes can take off or land at Bristol 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 the purchase price of £55,000, the city spent a further £200,000 by 1958 on building the terminal and other development.
• Bristol Airport (BRS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Bristol Airport (BRS) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,941 miles (19,217 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Bristol Airport (BRS) is Bristol Filton Airport (FZO), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNE of BRS.
• A planning application for an on-site 251-room hotel was approved separately in 2010.