Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and La Seu d'Urgell, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and La Seu d'Urgell airport (LEU), La Seu d'Urgell, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,960 miles (or 9,591 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 La Seu d'Urgell 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 La Seu d'Urgell 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• The first airline to serve Santa Maria was Southwest Airways operating Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft.
• 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".
• A 4,000-square-foot baggage claim facility opened in 2007.

Facts about La Seu d'Urgell airport (LEU):

• Because of La Seu d'Urgell airport's relatively low elevation of 3 feet, planes can take off or land at La Seu d'Urgell 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 "La Seu d'Urgell airport", other names for LEU include "Aeroport de la Seu d'Urgell" and "Aeroport Pirineus - la Seu d'Urgell".
• There are plans to allow regular or tourist charter flights from the summer of 2014.
• The closest airport to La Seu d'Urgell airport (LEU) is Lleida–Alguaire Airport (ILD), which is located 62 miles (99 kilometers) SW of LEU.
• La Seu d'Urgell airport (LEU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport opened in 1982 but was closed to commercial traffic in 1984 and was used only by private aeroplanes until 2008, when the airport was purchased by the Catalan government and closed pending its redevelopment and reopening as a commercial airport.
• La Seu d'Urgell airport, officially Pirineus - la Seu d'Urgel airport and also known as Pirineus-Andorra airport is an airport facility owned by the Government of Catalonia and hosts general aviation and emergency flights.
• The furthest airport from La Seu d'Urgell airport (LEU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to La Seu d'Urgell airport (meaning La Seu d'Urgell airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,289 miles (19,777 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.