Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Bournemouth, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Bournemouth Airport (BOH), Bournemouth, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,442 miles (or 8,758 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 Maria Public Airport and Bournemouth 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 Maria Public Airport and Bournemouth 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 Maria Public Airport (SMX):

• The extended primary runway at Santa Maria is paved to 8,004 feet, giving the airport the longest civil runway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the central coast and Vandenberg AFB's runway are longer).
• Because of Santa Maria Public Airport's relatively low elevation of 261 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Maria Public 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.
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• At one point during the early 1980's Swift Aire Lines, which was based at the nearby San Luis Obispo Airport, was the only airline flying nonstop between Santa Maria and Los Angeles, primarily with Fokker F27 Friendship turboprops which the carrier had purchased new from the manufacturer.
• The airport was built by the United States Army during World War II, known as Santa Maria Army Air Field.
• A runway extension opened on May 3, 2012, from 6,304 ft.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSW of SMX.
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,466 miles (18,453 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.

Facts about Bournemouth Airport (BOH):

• Because of Bournemouth Airport's relatively low elevation of 38 feet, planes can take off or land at Bournemouth 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.
• Work on the terminal itself is now complete, where the check-in areas, security control and departure lounges have been upgraded.
• From November 1944 the airfield took over from Bristol's Whitchurch airport as the main operating base for British Overseas Airways Corporation until Heathrow fully opened in 1948.
• Increasing from 14 routes, after the discontinuation of the Nantes route, to 18 - Carcassonne, Faro, Limoges, and Reus were added to the route network in February 2009.
• The furthest airport from Bournemouth Airport (BOH) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,941 miles (19,218 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Bournemouth Airport handled 660,272 passengers last year.
• Bournemouth Airport (BOH) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 9 January 2008, Ryanair announced that they would base one of their Boeing 737-800s at Bournemouth from April 2008.
• In 2003, EAC acquired six Boeing 747-200s from British Airways, with the intention of operating long haul holidays from the airport.
• The closest airport to Bournemouth Airport (BOH) is Southampton Airport (SOU), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) ENE of BOH.