Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Rygge (near Moss), Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG), Rygge (near Moss), Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,353 miles (or 8,614 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 Moss Airport, Rygge, 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 Moss Airport, Rygge. 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):

• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• Besides the current Allegiant jet service, SkyWest Airlines operating as United Express via a code sharing agreement with United Airlines flies Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops and sometimes Bombardier CRJ-200 Regional Jet nonstop to Los Angeles that served the airport for many years.
• 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.

Facts about Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG):

• The furthest airport from Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,319 miles (18,216 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Moss Airport, Rygge handled 1,667,705 passengers last year.
• In January, Rygge was, with 24,400 passengers, larger than Torp in domestic traffic.
• In addition to being known as "Moss Airport, Rygge", another name for RYG is "Moss lufthavn, Rygge".
• Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG) currently has only 1 runway.
• In January 2007, the charter operators Star Tour, Apollo and MyTravel Airways announced that they would start operating charter flights from 1 October.
• Rygge Air Station is home to the 720 Squadron of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, which operates Bell 412 helicopters, the 717 Squadron which operates Dassault Falcon 20 jets, and a detachment of the 330 Squadron which operates Westland Sea King search and rescue helicopters.
• From 1 September, Widerøe terminated its Copenhagen route, while Norwegian terminated its London service.
• On 12 January 2000, Københavns Lufthavne, which operates among other things Copenhagen Airport, bought 33.3% of the shares in Rygge Sivile Lufthavn.
• The closest airport to Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG) is Sandefjord Airport, Torp (TRF), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) SW of RYG.
• Because of Moss Airport, Rygge's relatively low elevation of 173 feet, planes can take off or land at Moss Airport, Rygge 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.