Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Shellharbour, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL), Shellharbour, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,480 miles (or 12,037 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 Illawarra Regional 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 Illawarra Regional 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):

• There are two fixed based operators on the field, Signature Flight Support and Atlantic Aviation, and three flight schools, Above All Aviation, Red Baron Aviation, and Spitfire Aviation.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of SBA.
• Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
• The largest passenger jet currently serving Santa Barbara is the Airbus A319 operated by Frontier Airlines nonstop to Denver.
• 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.
• As airplane manufacturing grew in the late 1930s that airstrip developed into an airfield.

Facts about Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL):

• Illawarra Regional Airport is an airport located 18 km southwest of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
• The Illawarra Regional Airport provides a cost effective alternative to the Sydney Basin airports for light aircraft users.
• The furthest airport from Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is nearly antipodal to Illawarra Regional Airport (meaning Illawarra Regional Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Horta International Airport), and is located 12,162 miles (19,573 kilometers) away in Horta, Azores, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL) is Camden Aerodrome (CDU), which is located 36 miles (59 kilometers) N of WOL.
• In addition to being known as "Illawarra Regional Airport", another name for WOL is "Wollongong Airport".
• As early as the 1920s, aviators had used fields in the Albion Park area for joy flights and demonstrations.
• Because of Illawarra Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 31 feet, planes can take off or land at Illawarra Regional 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.
• Illawarra Regional Airport (WOL) has 2 runways.