Nonstop flight route between Santa Monica, California, United States and Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Monica Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, California, United States and Cardiff Airport (CWL), Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,349 miles (or 8,609 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 Santa Monica Airport and Cardiff 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 Santa Monica Airport and Cardiff 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 Santa Monica Airport (SMO):

• Santa Monica Airport (SMO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Santa Monica Airport (SMO) is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSE of SMO.
• On August 1, 2005, the Santa Monica City Council implemented a revised landing fee program for all transient aircraft based on a uniform rate of $2.07 per 1000 pounds of Maximum Certificated Gross Landing Weight.
• Because of Santa Monica Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Monica 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 furthest airport from Santa Monica Airport (SMO) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,484 miles (18,481 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• As the Santa Monica Airport is one of relatively few general aviation airports in the nation that is surrounded on all sides by dense residential development, the City of Santa Monica aggressively enforces one of the most stringent noise ordinances in the nation.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Monica Airport", other names for SMO include "Santa Monica Municipal Airport" and "Clover Field".

Facts about Cardiff Airport (CWL):

• The furthest airport from Cardiff Airport (CWL) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,958 miles (19,244 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• On 29 May 2012 it was announced that Jones would personally chair a "Task Force" on Cardiff Airport with the aim of "maximising its economic impact, commercially and for Wales".
• In addition to being known as "Cardiff Airport", another name for CWL is "Maes Awyr Caerdydd".
• In the 1970s, the supersonic airliner Concorde made a few flights into the airport on special occasions.
• Cardiff Airport handled 1,072,062 passengers last year.
• Cardiff Airport (CWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Cardiff Airport's relatively low elevation of 220 feet, planes can take off or land at Cardiff 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 Cardiff Airport (CWL) is MoD St Athan (DGX), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) W of CWL.
• It was announced on 28 October 2011, that Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling are to open a new route to Barcelona commencing 27 March 2012 operating the route three times per week.
• The airport was used by 2.1 million passengers in 2008, falling to around 1.1 million passengers in 2013, according to the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, a reduction of nearly 50% since 2008, making it the 21st busiest airport in the UK in terms of passenger numbers.