Nonstop flight route between Sacramento, California, United States and Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Sacramento, California, United States and Saipan International Airport (SPN), Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,711 miles (or 9,191 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 Saipan 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 Saipan 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 Sacramento International Airport (SMF):

• 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.
• Sacramento International Airport (SMF) has 2 runways.
• The airport was a focus city for ExpressJet Airlines which independently operated Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets on point-to-point, "hub bypass" routes.
• 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 closest airport to Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of SMF.
• Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, and Trans World Airlines were added to the list of carriers at Sacramento.
• Airport security procedures were dramatically changed after September 11, 2001.
• Sacramento International Airport handled 8,910,570 passengers last year.
• Sacramento International Airport opened October 21, 1967 as Sacramento Metropolitan Airport with one 8600-foot runway.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Saipan International Airport (SPN):

• Japanese tourists began visiting Saipan in large numbers during the 1970s.
• The IJNAS assigned two squadrons of Mitsubishi A6M5a-52 Zeros to the airfield in mid-June 1944.
• After several months of disappointing high level bombing attacks from Isely, General Curtis LeMay, Commander of Twentieth Air Force issued a new directive that the high-altitude, daylight attacks be phased out and replaced by low-altitude, high-intensity incendiary raids at nighttime, being followed up with high explosive bombs once the targets were set ablaze.
• The closest airport to Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Tinian International Airport (TIQ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SW of SPN.
• Because of Saipan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Saipan 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 airfield was liberated by the United States Army 27th Infantry Division on June 18, 1944 during the Battle of Saipan.
• SPN was a sugarcane field before the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service constructed a temporary landing field on the site in 1933.
• In addition to being known as "Saipan International Airport", other names for SPN include "Francisco C. Ada Airport" and "GSN".
• Saipan International Airport (SPN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Saipan International Airport (meaning Saipan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,125 miles (19,514 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.