Nonstop flight route between Sacramento, California, United States and Poitiers, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Sacramento, California, United States and Poitiers–Biard Airport (PIS), Poitiers, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,539 miles (or 8,914 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 Sacramento International Airport and Poitiers–Biard 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 Sacramento International Airport and Poitiers–Biard 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 Sacramento International Airport (SMF):

• Sacramento County has tried to entice Virgin America into adding a Los Angeles route by giving them 400,000 dollars to operate out of terminal A or 150,000 dollars to operate in terminal B.
• The closest airport to Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of SMF.
• Sacramento International Airport opened October 21, 1967 as Sacramento Metropolitan Airport with one 8600-foot runway.
• Air Canada flew to this airport in 2007–2008 to Vancouver, but ended the route in 2008.
• The furthest airport from Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,280 miles (18,154 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Because of Sacramento International Airport's relatively low elevation of 27 feet, planes can take off or land at Sacramento 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.
• The airport was a focus city for ExpressJet Airlines which independently operated Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets on point-to-point, "hub bypass" routes.
• Sacramento International Airport (SMF) has 2 runways.
• US Airways previously flew to Las Vegas, but ended service after closing its Las Vegas hub.
• In 2006 Sacramento International Airport was one of the first airports in the nation to offer free wireless Internet service.
• Airport security procedures were dramatically changed after September 11, 2001.
• Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, and Trans World Airlines were added to the list of carriers at Sacramento.
• Sacramento International Airport handled 8,910,570 passengers last year.

Facts about Poitiers–Biard Airport (PIS):

• The furthest airport from Poitiers–Biard Airport (PIS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Poitiers–Biard Airport (meaning Poitiers–Biard Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,189 miles (19,616 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Poitiers–Biard Airport (PIS) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Poitiers–Biard Airport (PIS) is Angoulême - Brie - Champniers Airport (ANG), which is located 59 miles (96 kilometers) S of PIS.
• In addition to being known as "Poitiers–Biard Airport", another name for PIS is "Aéroport de Poitiers – Biard".
• Because of Poitiers–Biard Airport's relatively low elevation of 423 feet, planes can take off or land at Poitiers–Biard 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.