Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Ceuta, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Ceuta Heliport (JCU), Ceuta, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,008 miles (or 9,670 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 Ceuta Heliport, 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 Ceuta Heliport. 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• Other enhancements include a new passenger terminal holding room that opened February 2008.
• 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.
• 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".

Facts about Ceuta Heliport (JCU):

• Ceuta Heliport handled 5,673 passengers last year.
• Because of Ceuta Heliport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Ceuta Heliport 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 route is covered by Helicópteros del Sureste, a transport company based in Mutxamel, Alicante.
• The closest airport to Ceuta Heliport (JCU) is Gibraltar International Airport (GIB), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) N of JCU.
• This infrastructure is key to Ceuta because it allows passengers to connect in minutes through Malaga, giving Ceuta access to almost all cities served from Andalucia.
• The furthest airport from Ceuta Heliport (JCU) is Whangarei Airport (WRE), which is nearly antipodal to Ceuta Heliport (meaning Ceuta Heliport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Whangarei Airport), and is located 12,416 miles (19,982 kilometers) away in Whangarei, New Zealand.
• Ceuta Heliport is the heliport, and only air transport facility, serving the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta, in North Africa.
• In addition to being known as "Ceuta Heliport", another name for JCU is "Helipuerto de Ceuta".