Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Zahedan, Iran:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Zahedan Airport (ZAH), Zahedan, Iran would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,988 miles (or 12,855 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 Zahedan 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 Zahedan 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".
• 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.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
• Allegiant Air has expanded flights between Las Vegas and Santa Maria with four nonstops per week each way.
• During its use by the military Santa Maria AAF also controlled Estrella Army Airfield, near Paso Robles as an auxiliary airfield to support the pilot training activity.
• 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 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 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 Zahedan Airport (ZAH):

• Zahedan Airport (ZAH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Zahedan Airport (ZAH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Because of Zahedan Airport's high elevation of 4,564 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ZAH. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ZAH a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Zahedan Airport (ZAH) is Zaranj Airport (ZAJ), which is located 118 miles (190 kilometers) NNE of ZAH.