Nonstop flight route between San Luis Obispo, California, United States and Bilbao, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP), San Luis Obispo, California, United States and Bilbao Airport (BIO), Bilbao, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,746 miles (or 9,247 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 San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport and Bilbao 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 San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport and Bilbao 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 San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP):

• In addition to being known as "San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport", another name for SBP is "McChesney Field".
• In 1947 county supervisors contracted for another hangar, ramp, and eventually an administration building.
• The airport had Delta Connection nonstop Canadair CRJ-200 regional jet service to Salt Lake City which ended on September 1, 2008.
• San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP) has 2 runways.
• Because of San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 212 feet, planes can take off or land at San Luis Obispo County 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.
• Southwest Airways DC-3 flights to San Luis Obispo lasted from 1946 to 1956 when the airline moved its service to Paso Robles due to the short runway at San Luis Obispo not being able to accommodate more modern aircraft.
• The furthest airport from San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,446 miles (18,421 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP) is O'Sullivan Army Heliport (CSL), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SBP.

Facts about Bilbao Airport (BIO):

• In 1940, it was decided by common agreement with the local organisations affected to build a civilian airport in Sondika.
• Bilbao Airport handled 3,800,789 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Bilbao Airport", another name for BIO is "Bilboko aireportua (eu) Aeropuerto de Bilbao (es)".
• Bilbao Airport (BIO) has 2 runways.
• Users of the airport widely complained about its lack of an arrivals area, since once passengers cleared customs, they stepped directly outside, and there they were often exposed to the elements.
• The furthest airport from Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is nearly antipodal to Bilbao Airport (meaning Bilbao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hood Aerodrome), and is located 12,260 miles (19,730 kilometers) away in Masterton, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Bilbao Airport (BIO) is Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) SSE of BIO.
• There has been some criticism of Santiago Calatrava's design by Aena, the Spanish airport authority, because it seems difficult to make further enlargements in the terminal's capacity because the design is too closed.
• The airport has seen a constant increase in its traffic numbers, the old terminal was already saturated and obsolete in 1990, although it had been renewed only a few years earlier.
• Because of Bilbao Airport's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Bilbao 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.
• On 19 February 1985, an Iberia flight from Madrid crashed into Mount Oiz, all passengers and crew died.
• After various aeronautic experiments in the province of Biscay, in October 1927 steps were taken by the Union of Public Works to establish an airport in Bilbao.