Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Manas International Airport (FRU), Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,969 miles (or 11,215 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 Manas 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 Santa Maria Public Airport and Manas 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 Santa Maria Public Airport (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.
• 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 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).
• 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.
• Santa Maria Public Airport is three miles south of Santa Maria, in northern Santa Barbara County, California.
• 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.

Facts about Manas International Airport (FRU):

• The furthest airport from Manas International Airport (FRU) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,317 miles (18,213 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Manas International Airport (FRU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2012, the airport handled 1,056,000 passengers.
• The airport is operational 24 hours and its ILS system meets ICAO CAT II standards, which enables aircraft operations in low ceiling ) and visibility ).
• In addition to being known as "Manas International Airport", other names for FRU include "Манас эл аралык аэропорту", "FRU (БИШ)" and "UCFM".
• Around the same time the Kyrgyz government performed a major expansion and renovation of the passenger terminal, funded in part by the sizable landing fees paid by coalition forces.
• The closest airport to Manas International Airport (FRU) is Almaty International Airport (ALA), which is located 131 miles (211 kilometers) E of FRU.