Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Valence, France:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SBA to VAF:
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- About this route
- SBA Airport Information
- VAF Airport Information
- Facts about SBA
- Facts about VAF
- 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 VAF
- List of Nearest Airports to VAF
- Map of Furthest Airports from VAF
- List of Furthest Airports from VAF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF), Valence, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,958 miles (or 9,588 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 Valence - Chabeuil 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 Valence - Chabeuil 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: | VAF / LFLU |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Valence, France |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°54'56"N by 4°58'6"E |
Area Served: | Valence, Drôme, France |
Operator/Owner: | Department of Drôme |
Airport Type: | Public / Military |
Elevation: | 525 feet (160 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from VAF |
More Information: | VAF 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- As airplane manufacturing grew in the late 1930s that airstrip developed into an airfield.
Facts about Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF):
- The airport's origin dates from the 1930s when the French Air Force established Valence-Chabeuil Air Base.
- Twelfth Air Force combat engineers moved into Valence-Chabeuil Airport in late August 1944, and cleared the airport of mines and destroyed German aircraft.
- In addition to being known as "Valence - Chabeuil Airport", other names for VAF include "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-23" and "Aéroport de Valence - Chabeuil".
- The closest airport to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Grenoble–Isère Airport (GNB), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of VAF.
- The furthest airport from Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (meaning Valence - Chabeuil Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,333 miles (19,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Because of Valence - Chabeuil Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Valence - Chabeuil 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.
- Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) has 3 runways.