Nonstop flight route between Valence, France and Santa Maria, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF), Valence, France and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,952 miles (or 9,578 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 Valence - Chabeuil Airport 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 Valence - Chabeuil Airport 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 Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF):

• Used by the French Air Force base after the war, it was closed and today the airport is used for general aviation, with no commercial airline service.
• The furthest airport from Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (meaning Valence - Chabeuil Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,333 miles (19,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Grenoble–Isère Airport (GNB), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of VAF.
• Valence - Chabeuil Airport is an airport in France, located about 5 miles east of Valence and approximately 300 miles south-southeast of Paris.
• Today the airport is a modern, fully equipped facility with two additional parallel grass runways available for use.
• In addition to being known as "Valence - Chabeuil Airport", other names for VAF include "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-23" and "Aéroport de Valence - Chabeuil".
• Because of Valence - Chabeuil Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Valence - Chabeuil 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.
• Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) has 3 runways.

Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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).
• Santa Maria Public Airport is three miles south of Santa Maria, in northern Santa Barbara County, California.
• The airport was built by the United States Army during World War II, known as Santa Maria Army Air Field.
• 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.