Nonstop flight route between Luganville, Vanuatu and Santa Barbara, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu and Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), Santa Barbara, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,893 miles (or 9,484 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport and Santa Barbara 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport and Santa Barbara 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):

• The closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.
• As the war moved further north, Pekoa Airfield was closed on 8 February 1945 and all traffic routed to Palikulo Bay Airfield.
• Because of Santo-Pekoa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Santo-Pekoa International 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), which is nearly antipodal to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (meaning Santo-Pekoa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ouro Sogui Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Matam, Senegal.
• Luganville Airfield was used as a civilian airstrip until the early 1970s, however as it was on higher ground it was often clouded in and so it was decided to move all operations to the former Pekoa Airfield/Bomber Field No.2 which became Santo-Pekoa International Airport.
• Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Santa Barbara Airport (SBA):

• Besides American and United, other airlines operating jets from SBA included Pacific Air Lines with Boeing 727-100s to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Monterey, Continental Airlines with nonstop Boeing 737-300s to Denver, Air West with Boeing 727-100s as well as McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10s and DC-9-30s to Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities, Allegiant Air with McDonnell Douglas MD-80s to Las Vegas, Pacific Express with British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Elevens to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Bakersfield, Air Wisconsin with British Aerospace BAe 146-200 and BAe 146-300s to Denver, and ExpressJet flying Embraer ERJ-145s nonstop to Sacramento and San Diego.
• The United Airlines system timetable dated February 1, 1937 listed daily round trip service flown with a Douglas DC-3 twin prop aircraft on a routing of Los Angeles-Santa Barbara-San Francisco-Oakland.
• The closest airport to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Santa Ynez Airport (SQA), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NW of SBA.
• In the 1980s Apollo Airways, a commuter airline based in Santa Barbara that changed its name to Pacific Coast Airlines, flew Handley Page HP.137 Jetstreams from the airport.
• As the prospect of war escalated the United States Government established a program to construct 250 airports across the country on a cost-sharing basis with local governments.
• Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) has 3 runways.
• Airline flights began in 1932 on Pacific Seaboard Airlines.
• The furthest airport from Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,487 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• It is near the University of California, Santa Barbara and the city of Goleta.
• Because of Santa Barbara Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Barbara 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.