Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Nairobi, Kenya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), Nairobi, Kenya would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,702 miles (or 15,614 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 Santa Barbara Airport and Jomo Kenyatta International 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 Jomo Kenyatta International 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):

• The United Airlines system timetable dated February 1, 1937 listed daily round trip service flown with a Douglas DC-3 twin prop aircraft on a routing of Los Angeles-Santa Barbara-San Francisco-Oakland.
• 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.
• 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.
• Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
• 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.
• Airline flights began in 1932 on Pacific Seaboard Airlines.
• In the 1951 war film Flying Leathernecks, John Wayne's character was stationed in Goleta.
• 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.
• Until 2002 Santa Barbara Airport was on a mainline jet aircraft route between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
• The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of SBA.

Facts about Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO):

• Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,621 miles (18,703 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) is Wilson Airport (WIL), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) W of NBO.
• On 9 March 1958, Embakasi Airport was opened by the last colonial governor of Kenya, Sir Evelyn Baring.
• The groundbreaking of a new passenger terminal dubbed the "Greenfield Terminal" with a capacity of 20 million passengers was held on 3 December 2013.
• Because of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's high elevation of 5,327 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at NBO. Combined with a high temperature, this could make NBO a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Jomo Kenyatta International Airport handled 580,363 passengers last year.
• The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has its head office in the KAA Complex on the airport property.African Express Airways has its head office on the airport property.
• Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is an international airport in Nairobi, the capital of and largest city in Kenya.
• The original terminal, located on the north side of the runway, is used by the Kenya Air Force and is sometimes referred as Old Embakasi Airport.