Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Chennai (Madras), India:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Chennai International Airport (MAA), Chennai (Madras), India would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,863 miles (or 14,264 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 Chennai International 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 Chennai International 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.
• 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".
• 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.

Facts about Chennai International Airport (MAA):

• The aviation history of the city began in 1910, when a city-based Corsican hotelier Giacomo D'Angelis built an aircraft and tested it.
• The closest airport to Chennai International Airport (MAA) is Tirupati Airport (TIR), which is located 61 miles (99 kilometers) NW of MAA.
• The furthest airport from Chennai International Airport (MAA) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,351 miles (18,268 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• The Air Cargo Complex at the Chennai airport was established in 1978, when all regulatory and facilitating agencies were brought under one roof for faster processing/clearance of international cargo, to cater for air cargo movement in the southern region.
• Chennai International Airport (MAA) has 2 runways.
• The secondary runway, which was initially 2,035-m long, was closed in 2009 to extend it over the Adyar river by means of a bridge over the watercourse at a cost of 4,300 million.
• In 2009, an integrated cargo complex was planned in the cargo complex of the airport.
• In addition to being known as "Chennai International Airport", another name for MAA is "Madras Airport Meenambakkam Airport சென்னை பன்னாட்டு வானுர்தி நிலையம்".
• Chennai airport is the centre of the southern flight information region, one of the four FIRs that the Indian air space is divided into.
• Because of Chennai International Airport's relatively low elevation of 52 feet, planes can take off or land at Chennai International 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.