Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Manchester, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Manchester Airport (MAN), Manchester, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,308 miles (or 8,543 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 Manchester 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 Manchester 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Allegiant Air has expanded flights between Las Vegas and Santa Maria with four nonstops per week each way.
• 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 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).
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.

Facts about Manchester Airport (MAN):

• The closest airport to Manchester Airport (MAN) is Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) W of MAN.
• The airport has over 50 airline customers operating a global network of scheduled, charter and freight services.
• Manchester Airport has three passenger terminals.
• The furthest airport from Manchester Airport (MAN) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,824 miles (19,029 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The terminals are 7.5 nautical miles south west of Manchester city centre.
• In the Summer of 2009, a £50 million redevelopment programme for Terminal 1 was completed.
• Passenger flow on Terminal 1's gating piers is due to be realigned, with plans to redesign the piers so departures and arrivals do not contraflow on the same level, allowing larger seating areas at the gates, express retail outlets, and a dedicated lounge and gating area for future Airbus A380 flights.
• Manchester Airport (MAN) has 2 runways.
• The airport regularly handled the supersonic transport Concorde and currently houses the British Airways G-BOAC flagship Concorde at the Manchester Runway Visitor Park.
• Manchester Airport handled 20,751,581 passengers last year.
• Terminal 1 is used by airlines with scheduled and charter operations, flying to European and other worldwide destinations.
• Because of Manchester Airport's relatively low elevation of 257 feet, planes can take off or land at Manchester 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.