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):

• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• A runway extension opened on May 3, 2012, from 6,304 ft.
• The first airline to serve Santa Maria was Southwest Airways operating Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft.
• Other enhancements include a new passenger terminal holding room that opened February 2008.
• The original Allan Hancock Field was established in 1927 at another location, between Jones Street to the north, Stowell Road to the south, Bradley Road to the east and Miller Street to the west.
• 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.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.

Facts about Manchester Airport (MAN):

• 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.
• In 1972, the M56 motorway opened to the airport.
• Manchester Airport (MAN) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Manchester Airport (MAN) is Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) W of MAN.
• Manchester Airport started construction on 28 November 1935 and opened partly in June 1937 and completely on 25 June 1938, in Ringway parish north of Wilmslow.
• Manchester also offers more destinations than some of the biggest airports in the U.S.A., including New York-JFK, although it is still slightly behind the three biggest 'hubs' in the global aviation network – Atlanta, Frankfurt am Main and Amsterdam – which each offer more than 250 destinations.
• Manchester Airport has three passenger terminals.
• Terminal 2 is used by a variety of airlines, operating both charter and scheduled flights to many European and worldwide destinations.
• Manchester Airport handled 20,751,581 passengers last year.