Nonstop flight route between Sacramento, California, United States and Luganville, Vanuatu:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SMF to SON:
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- About this route
- SMF Airport Information
- SON Airport Information
- Facts about SMF
- Facts about SON
- Map of Nearest Airports to SMF
- List of Nearest Airports to SMF
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMF
- List of Furthest Airports from SMF
- Map of Nearest Airports to SON
- List of Nearest Airports to SON
- Map of Furthest Airports from SON
- List of Furthest Airports from SON
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Sacramento, California, United States and Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,920 miles (or 9,527 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 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 Sacramento International Airport 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:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SMF / KSMF |
| Airport Name: | Sacramento International Airport |
| Location: | Sacramento, California, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 38°41'44"N by 121°35'26"W |
| Area Served: | Sacramento, California |
| Operator/Owner: | County of Sacramento |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 27 feet (8 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SMF |
| More Information: | SMF Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SON / NVSS |
| Airport Name: | Santo-Pekoa International Airport |
| Location: | Luganville, Vanuatu |
| GPS Coordinates: | 15°30'20"S by 167°13'17"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Airports Vanuatu Limited |
| Elevation: | 184 feet (56 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SON |
| More Information: | SON Maps & Info |
Facts about Sacramento International Airport (SMF):
- The airport was a focus city for ExpressJet Airlines which independently operated Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets on point-to-point, "hub bypass" routes.
- Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, and Trans World Airlines were added to the list of carriers at Sacramento.
- 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 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 (SMF) has 2 runways.
- On July 6, 2013 the airport was one of ten airports that hosted flights diverted from San Francisco International Airport after Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed short of the runway.
- Long dominated by Southwest and United, the intra-California market was joined in 2011 by American and Delta which fly from Los Angeles International Airport.
- Due to housing growth around Sacramento Executive Airport, the City of Sacramento Planning Department and the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors commissioned a study in the 1950s to move airline flights to a less populated area.
- 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.
- Sacramento International Airport opened October 21, 1967 as Sacramento Metropolitan Airport with one 8600-foot runway.
- Sacramento International Airport handled 8,910,570 passengers last year.
Facts about Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):
- 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 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.
- The closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of 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.
- 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.
