Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Hengchun, Taiwan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Hengchun Airport (HCN), Hengchun, Taiwan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,821 miles (or 10,978 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 Hengchun 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 Hengchun 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):

• A runway extension opened on May 3, 2012, from 6,304 ft.
• A 4,000-square-foot baggage claim facility opened in 2007.
• 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.
• During its use by the military Santa Maria AAF also controlled Estrella Army Airfield, near Paso Robles as an auxiliary airfield to support the pilot training activity.
• 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 (SMX) has 2 runways.
• 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".

Facts about Hengchun Airport (HCN):

• Because of Hengchun Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Hengchun 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.
• Due to its location, the airport experiences strong Katabatic wind and is forced to close.
• The closest airport to Hengchun Airport (HCN) is Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport) (KHH), which is located 44 miles (72 kilometers) NNW of HCN.
• The airport construction was finished in 2003 and opened to public in 2004 with a cost of NT$ 539,000,000.
• Hengchun Airport (HCN) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Hengchun Airport", other names for HCN include "恆春航空站恆春機場" and "Héngchūn HángkōngzhànHéngchūn Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Hengchun Airport (HCN) is Dr. Luis María Argaña International Airport (ESG), which is nearly antipodal to Hengchun Airport (meaning Hengchun Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dr. Luis María Argaña International Airport), and is located 12,350 miles (19,876 kilometers) away in Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay.
• Mandarin Airlines and TransAsia Airways dropped out from serving the airport due to poor load factor and Hengchun Peninsular's seasonal strong winds which make landing and take off dangerous.