Nonstop flight route between Tirana, Albania and Santa Maria, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA), Tirana, Albania and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,591 miles (or 10,607 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 Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa and Santa Maria Public 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 Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa and Santa Maria Public 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 Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA):

• Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa handled 1,665,331 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA) is Ohrid Airport (OHD), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) ESE of TIA.
• The air traffic equipment and facilities of the airport have been heavily modernised following investments by Tirana International Airport SHPK, a consortium led by Hochtief AirPort.
• In addition to being known as "Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa", another name for TIA is "Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Tiranës Nënë Tereza".
• Because of Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa's relatively low elevation of 108 feet, planes can take off or land at Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa 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.
• Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Tirana International Airport Mother Teresa (TIA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,599 miles (18,667 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX):

• A runway extension opened on May 3, 2012, from 6,304 ft.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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).
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• 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.