Nonstop flight route between San Bernardino, California, United States and Luganville, Vanuatu:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Norton Air Force Base (SBD), San Bernardino, California, United States and Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,023 miles (or 9,693 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 Norton Air Force Base and Santo-Pekoa International 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 Norton Air Force Base and Santo-Pekoa International 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 Norton Air Force Base (SBD):

• A base railroad system interchanged with the Pacific Electric/Southern Pacific branch line on the south side of the installation.
• On 1 March 1942, the airport was renamed San Bernardino Army Air Field and the San Bernardino Air Depot was established there.
• Norton AFB was closed as a result of Base Realignment and Closure action 1988 in 1994.
• Discrete C-130 Hercules modification tests were conducted out of Area II of the base in the late 1960s, with the 1198th Operational Evaluation and Training Squadron operating four highly classified C-130E special operations testbeds modified at Lockheed Air Services, at near-by Ontario Airport under projects Thin Slice and Heavy Chain.
• In addition to being known as "Norton Air Force Base", another name for SBD is "Norton AFB".
• The furthest airport from Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,447 miles (18,423 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The aviation facilities of the base were converted into San Bernardino International Airport, and 3 of the 4 stationed squadrons – C-141 Starlifter, C-21, and C-12 Huron aircraft – were moved to nearby March Air Force Base, while the remaining squadron – C-141 aircraft – was moved to McChord Air Force Base, Washington.
• The closest airport to Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is San Bernardino International Airport (SBT), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) S of SBD.

Facts about Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):

• Luganville Airfield was used as a civilian airstrip until the early 1970s, however as it was on higher ground it was often clouded in and so it was decided to move all operations to the former Pekoa Airfield/Bomber Field No.2 which became Santo-Pekoa International Airport.
• The furthest airport from Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), which is nearly antipodal to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (meaning Santo-Pekoa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ouro Sogui Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Matam, Senegal.
• Because of Santo-Pekoa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Santo-Pekoa International 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.
• Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) currently has only 1 runway.
• The Thirteenth Air Force was based at Pekoa from 13 January 1943 until 20 January 1944 when it moved to Carney Airfield on Guadalcanal.
• The closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.