Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Santiago de Compostela, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ), Santiago de Compostela, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,566 miles (or 8,958 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 Santiago de Compostela 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 Santiago de Compostela 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 4,000-square-foot baggage claim facility opened in 2007.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ):

• The closest airport to Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) N of SCQ.
• Santiago de Compostela Airport handled 2,194,611 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Santiago de Compostela Airport", another name for SCQ is "Aeroporto de Santiago de Compostela".
• Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Passenger numbers have increased significantly at the airport, from 1.3 million in 2000 to 2.4 in 2011.
• The furthest airport from Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) is Hokitika Airport (HKK), which is nearly antipodal to Santiago de Compostela Airport (meaning Santiago de Compostela Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hokitika Airport), and is located 12,404 miles (19,962 kilometers) away in Hokitika, New Zealand.
• The Old terminal at Santiago de Compostela airport opened in 1969 and had lots of expansions during its lifetime.
• In 1969 A new terminal was built at the airport.
• Additionally, criticism has faced the high cost of constructing a new terminal building, 230 million euros, while the old terminal currently sits shuttered and unused.