Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Santander, Cantabria, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Santander Airport (SDR), Santander, Cantabria, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,719 miles (or 9,204 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 Santander 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 Santander 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• In the 1951 war film Flying Leathernecks, John Wayne's character was stationed in Goleta.
• In 1947 the Santa Barbara Flying Club was formed to promote general aviation in the region.
• 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.
• It is near the University of California, Santa Barbara and the city of Goleta.
• 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.
• 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 Santander Airport (SDR):

• Santander Airport (SDR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Santander Airport (SDR) is Bilbao Airport (BIO), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) E of SDR.
• Because of Santander Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Santander 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 "Santander Airport", other names for SDR include "Aeropuerto de Santander" and "Aeropuerto de Parayas".
• The furthest airport from Santander Airport (SDR) is Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ), which is nearly antipodal to Santander Airport (meaning Santander Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kaikoura Aerodrome), and is located 12,289 miles (19,777 kilometers) away in Kaikoura, New Zealand.