Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Copiapó, Atacama Region, Chile:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Chamonate Airfield (CPO), Copiapó, Atacama Region, Chile would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,398 miles (or 8,688 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 Chamonate Airfield, 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 Chamonate Airfield. 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):

• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
• Other enhancements include a new passenger terminal holding room that opened February 2008.
• 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.
• Besides the current Allegiant jet service, SkyWest Airlines operating as United Express via a code sharing agreement with United Airlines flies Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops and sometimes Bombardier CRJ-200 Regional Jet nonstop to Los Angeles that served the airport for many years.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Chamonate Airfield (CPO):

• Chamonate Airfield (CPO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Chamonate Airfield (CPO) is Zhijiang Airport (HJJ), which is nearly antipodal to Chamonate Airfield (meaning Chamonate Airfield is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Zhijiang Airport), and is located 12,425 miles (19,995 kilometers) away in Zhijiang, Hubei, China.
• The closest airport to Chamonate Airfield (CPO) is Chañaral Airport (CNR), which is located 68 miles (109 kilometers) N of CPO.
• Because of Chamonate Airfield's relatively low elevation of 954 feet, planes can take off or land at Chamonate Airfield 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.
• In addition to being known as "Chamonate Airfield", other names for CPO include "Chamonate Airfield (Copiapó)" and "Aeródromo Chamonate".