Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Leeuwarden, Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR), Leeuwarden, Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,561 miles (or 8,949 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 Leeuwarden Air Base, 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 Leeuwarden Air Base. 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):

• In the 1980s Apollo Airways, a commuter airline based in Santa Barbara that changed its name to Pacific Coast Airlines, flew Handley Page HP.137 Jetstreams from the airport.
• Santa Barbara Municipal Airport is a public airport 7 miles west of downtown Santa Barbara, California, United States.
• The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of 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.
• Five airlines serve the Airport as of July 2013 with non-stop flights to Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma.
• Besides American and United, other airlines operating jets from SBA included Pacific Air Lines with Boeing 727-100s to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Monterey, Continental Airlines with nonstop Boeing 737-300s to Denver, Air West with Boeing 727-100s as well as McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10s and DC-9-30s to Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities, Allegiant Air with McDonnell Douglas MD-80s to Las Vegas, Pacific Express with British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Elevens to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Bakersfield, Air Wisconsin with British Aerospace BAe 146-200 and BAe 146-300s to Denver, and ExpressJet flying Embraer ERJ-145s nonstop to Sacramento and San Diego.
• Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
• 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.
• As the prospect of war escalated the United States Government established a program to construct 250 airports across the country on a cost-sharing basis with local governments.
• With the outbreak of WWII the airport became MCAS Santa Barbara in 1942, an aviator training base for the U.S Marines.
• 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.

Facts about Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR):

• Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR) has 2 runways.
• After the liberation of the Netherlands, the airbase was repaired.
• In addition to being known as "Leeuwarden Air Base", another name for LWR is "Vliegbasis Leeuwarden".
• The closest airport to Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR) is Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) ESE of LWR.
• Because of Leeuwarden Air Base's relatively low elevation of 3 feet, planes can take off or land at Leeuwarden Air Base 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 furthest airport from Leeuwarden Air Base (LWR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,778 miles (18,955 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.