Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Lahad Datu Airport (LDU), Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,733 miles (or 12,445 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 Lahad Datu 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 Lahad Datu 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 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).
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• Other enhancements include a new passenger terminal holding room that opened February 2008.
• The first airline to serve Santa Maria was Southwest Airways operating Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft.
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.

Facts about Lahad Datu Airport (LDU):

• The closest airport to Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) is Semporna Airport (SMM), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) SSE of LDU.
• Because of Lahad Datu Airport's relatively low elevation of 45 feet, planes can take off or land at Lahad Datu 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.
• In addition to being known as "Lahad Datu Airport", another name for LDU is "Lapangan Terbang Lahad Datu 拿笃机场".
• Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Lahad Datu Airport (meaning Lahad Datu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,319 miles (19,826 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Lahad Datu Airport handled 99,983 passengers last year.