Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Vila Real, Portugal:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SBA to VRL:
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- About this route
- SBA Airport Information
- VRL Airport Information
- Facts about SBA
- Facts about VRL
- 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 VRL
- List of Nearest Airports to VRL
- Map of Furthest Airports from VRL
- List of Furthest Airports from VRL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Vila Real Airport (VRL), Vila Real, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,664 miles (or 9,116 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 Vila Real 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 Vila Real 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: | VRL / LPVR |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Vila Real, Portugal |
GPS Coordinates: | 41°16'39"N by 7°43'10"W |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 1831 feet (558 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from VRL |
More Information: | VRL Maps & Info |
Facts about Santa Barbara Airport (SBA):
- 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.
- 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.
- The largest passenger jet currently serving Santa Barbara is the Airbus A319 operated by Frontier Airlines nonstop to Denver.
- 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.
- As airplane manufacturing grew in the late 1930s that airstrip developed into an airfield.
- The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of SBA.
- Until 2002 Santa Barbara Airport was on a mainline jet aircraft route between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
- Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
Facts about Vila Real Airport (VRL):
- Vila Real Airport (VRL) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Vila Real Airport (VRL) is Takaka Aerodrome (KTF), which is nearly antipodal to Vila Real Airport (meaning Vila Real Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Takaka Aerodrome), and is located 12,399 miles (19,955 kilometers) away in Takaka, New Zealand.
- The closest airport to Vila Real Airport (VRL) is Braga Airport (BGZ), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) WNW of VRL.
- In addition to being known as "Vila Real Airport", another name for VRL is "Aeródromo Municipal de Vila Real".