Nonstop flight route between Santa Barbara, California, United States and Berlin, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Cruz Island Airport (SZN), Santa Barbara, California, United States and Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,823 miles (or 9,371 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 Cruz Island Airport and Royal Air Force Station Gatow, 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 Cruz Island Airport and Royal Air Force Station Gatow. 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 Cruz Island Airport (SZN):

• The closest airport to Santa Cruz Island Airport (SZN) is Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) N of SZN.
• The furthest airport from Santa Cruz Island Airport (SZN) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,512 miles (18,527 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Santa Cruz Island Airport (SZN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Santa Cruz Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 50 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Cruz Island 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.

Facts about Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):

• Clues to the airfield's original use survive in the barrack block accommodation, each block of which was named after a famous German airman of the First World War, with the airman's bust above the entrance door.
• Known for most of its operational life as Royal Air Force Station Gatow, or more commonly RAF Gatow, this former British Royal Air Force airfield is in the district of Gatow in south-western Berlin, west of the Havel river, in the borough of Spandau.
• To commemorate Australian participation in the Airlift, the Royal Australian Air Force presented RAF Gatow with a retired Douglas Dakota in the 1980s, to use as a gate guardian.
• Late April 1945, towards the end of World War II in Europe, the airfield was occupied by the advancing Red Army.
• The RAF Gatow Station Flight used two De Havilland Chipmunk T10s, one of which is now in the Alliiertenmuseum, to maintain and exercise the British legal right under the Potsdam Agreement to use the airspace over both West and East Berlin, as well as the air corridors to and from West Germany to the city.
• Because of Royal Air Force Station Gatow's relatively low elevation of 161 feet, planes can take off or land at Royal Air Force Station Gatow 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.
• After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Chipmunk reconnaissance flights soon ceased and the two Chipmunks were flown to RAF Laarbruch, in Western Germany to await disposal action.
• The closest military neighbour to RAF Gatow was a tank unit of the National People's Army of East Germany.
• On 20 June 1980, the Royal Australian Air Force presented a Douglas Dakota to RAF Gatow in commemoration of its role.
• The closest airport to Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NE of GWW.
• Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,694 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.