Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Megève, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Megève Aerodrome (MVV), Megève, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,959 miles (or 9,590 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 Megève Aerodrome, 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 Megève Aerodrome. 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".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 airport was built by the United States Army during World War II, known as Santa Maria Army Air Field.
• 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 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).

Facts about Megève Aerodrome (MVV):

• Megève Aerodrome (MVV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Megève Aerodrome (MVV) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Megève Aerodrome (meaning Megève Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,231 miles (19,683 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Megève Aerodrome (MVV) is Méribel Airport (MFX), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) S of MVV.
• Because of Megève Aerodrome's high elevation of 4,830 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MVV. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MVV a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Megève Aerodrome", another name for MVV is "Altiport de Megève".