Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Wanaka, New Zealand:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SBA to WKA:
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- About this route
- SBA Airport Information
- WKA Airport Information
- Facts about SBA
- Facts about WKA
- 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 WKA
- List of Nearest Airports to WKA
- Map of Furthest Airports from WKA
- List of Furthest Airports from WKA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Wanaka Airport (WKA), Wanaka, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,040 miles (or 11,331 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 Wanaka 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 Wanaka 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: | WKA / NZWF |
Airport Name: | Wanaka Airport |
Location: | Wanaka, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°43'20"S by 169°14'44"E |
Operator/Owner: | Wanaka Town Board and Management Committee |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 1142 feet (348 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from WKA |
More Information: | WKA Maps & Info |
Facts about Santa Barbara Airport (SBA):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
- Santa Barbara's aviation history began in 1914 when Lincoln J.
Facts about Wanaka Airport (WKA):
- The furthest airport from Wanaka Airport (WKA) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Wanaka Airport (meaning Wanaka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,283 miles (19,768 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
- Scheduled services were operated by Air New Zealand's 19 seater Beechcraft 1900D to Christchurch, this finished on 30 January 2013.
- Wanaka Airport (WKA) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Wanaka Airport (WKA) is Queenstown Airport (ZQN), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) SW of WKA.
- The airport is the site of the biennial Warbirds over Wanaka international airshow.