Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Spangdahlem, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Spangdahlem Air Base (SPM), Spangdahlem, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,754 miles (or 9,260 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 Spangdahlem 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 Spangdahlem 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):

• 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.
• It is near the University of California, Santa Barbara and the city of Goleta.
• Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of SBA.
• As airplane manufacturing grew in the late 1930s that airstrip developed into an airfield.

Facts about Spangdahlem Air Base (SPM):

• The closest airport to Spangdahlem Air Base (SPM) is Bitburg Airport (BBJ), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) WSW of SPM.
• The 19th TRS operated from RAF Sculthorpe united Kingdom during 1958, moving to Spangdahlem in 1959.
• The furthest airport from Spangdahlem Air Base (SPM) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,986 miles (19,289 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition, Air Mobility Command supports cargo and passenger traffic as part of its airlift mission.
• In addition to being known as "Spangdahlem Air Base", another name for SPM is "Spangdahlem AB".
• The 23 TFS carried out tactical fighter training missions, while the 39 TEWS was a deployed squadron from Shaw AFB, South Carolina to conduct electronic warfare missions and train tactical reconnaissance and electronic warfare crews in Europe.
• In November 2005, the first C-17 Globemaster III aircraft arrived at Spangdahlem.