Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Monrovia, Liberia:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SBA to MLW:
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- About this route
- SBA Airport Information
- MLW Airport Information
- Facts about SBA
- Facts about MLW
- Map of Nearest Airports to SBA
- List of Nearest Airports to SBA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SBA
- List of Furthest Airports from SBA
- Map of Nearest Airports to MLW
- List of Nearest Airports to MLW
- Map of Furthest Airports from MLW
- List of Furthest Airports from MLW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Spriggs Payne Airport (MLW), Monrovia, Liberia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,040 miles (or 11,330 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 Spriggs Payne 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 Spriggs Payne Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SBA / KSBA |
Airport Name: | Santa Barbara Airport |
Location: | Santa Barbara, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°25'33"N by 119°50'25"W |
Area Served: | Santa Barbara, California |
Operator/Owner: | City of Santa Barbara |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 10 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from SBA |
More Information: | SBA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MLW / GLMR |
Airport Name: | Spriggs Payne Airport |
Location: | Monrovia, Liberia |
GPS Coordinates: | 6°17'21"N by 10°45'30"W |
Area Served: | Monrovia, Liberia |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 25 feet (8 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from MLW |
More Information: | MLW Maps & Info |
Facts about Santa Barbara Airport (SBA):
- The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of SBA.
- 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.
- American Airlines started nonstop McDonnell Douglas MD-80s to Dallas Fort-Worth International in 1984, sometimes on a triangle routing of DFW-Burbank-SBA-DFW or DFW-Bakersfield-SBA-DFW.
- In 1947 the Santa Barbara Flying Club was formed to promote general aviation in the region.
- In the 1951 war film Flying Leathernecks, John Wayne's character was stationed in Goleta.
- As airplane manufacturing grew in the late 1930s that airstrip developed into an airfield.
- 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 Spriggs Payne Airport (MLW):
- From 2008 until mid-2010, scheduled commercial services were operated by Cameroon-based Elysian Airlines.
- In January 2011, newly-formed Fly 6ix, initially designated as the new national airline of Sierra Leone began operating from Freetown with a single Embraer ERJ-135 regional jet.
- Spriggs-Payne was the primary location for domestic services within Liberia since the 1950s.
- Because of Spriggs Payne Airport's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Spriggs Payne 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.
- Spriggs Payne Airport (MLW) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Spriggs Payne Airport (MLW) is Nauru International Airport (INU), which is nearly antipodal to Spriggs Payne Airport (meaning Spriggs Payne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Nauru International Airport), and is located 12,009 miles (19,327 kilometers) away in Yaren, Nauru.
- The closest airport to Spriggs Payne Airport (MLW) is Roberts International Airport Roberts Field (ROB), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) E of MLW.
- Spriggs-Payne underwent a runway refurbishment during 2011 and 2012, necessitating the cessation of most flight operations.