Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Zhijiang, Hubei, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Zhijiang Airport (HJJ), Zhijiang, Hubei, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,026 miles (or 11,308 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 Zhijiang 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 Zhijiang 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):

• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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 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).

Facts about Zhijiang Airport (HJJ):

• Zhijiang Airport (HJJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Zhijiang Airport (HJJ) is Chamonate Airfield (CPO), which is nearly antipodal to Zhijiang Airport (meaning Zhijiang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chamonate Airfield), and is located 12,425 miles (19,995 kilometers) away in Copiapó, Atacama Region, Chile.
• Chihkiang Air Base was also the headquarters of the Fourteenth Air Force Chinese-American Composite Wing, whose squadrons flew P-40 Warhawk aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Zhijiang Airport", other names for HJJ include "芷江机场", "Zhǐjiāng Jīchǎng" and "ZGCJ".
• The closest airport to Zhijiang Airport (HJJ) is Tongren Fenghuang Airport (TEN), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) NW of HJJ.