Nonstop flight route between Kwajalein, Marshall Islands and Santa Maria, Portugal:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from KWA to SMA:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- KWA Airport Information
- SMA Airport Information
- Facts about KWA
- Facts about SMA
- Map of Nearest Airports to KWA
- List of Nearest Airports to KWA
- Map of Furthest Airports from KWA
- List of Furthest Airports from KWA
- Map of Nearest Airports to SMA
- List of Nearest Airports to SMA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMA
- List of Furthest Airports from SMA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA), Kwajalein, Marshall Islands and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,171 miles (or 14,759 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 Bucholz Army Airfield and Santa Maria 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 Bucholz Army Airfield and Santa Maria Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | KWA / PKWA |
Airport Name: | Bucholz Army Airfield |
Location: | Kwajalein, Marshall Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 8°43'12"N by 167°43'54"E |
Operator/Owner: | United States Army |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 9 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from KWA |
More Information: | KWA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SMA / LPAZ |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Santa Maria, Portugal |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°58'26"N by 25°10'15"W |
Area Served: | Vila do Porto |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Portugal |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 308 feet (94 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SMA |
More Information: | SMA Maps & Info |
Facts about Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA):
- Because of Bucholz Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Bucholz Army Airfield 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 Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is nearly antipodal to Bucholz Army Airfield (meaning Bucholz Army Airfield is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from RAF Ascension), and is located 12,283 miles (19,767 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
- After the war, the United States used Kwajalein as a main command center and preparation base for Operation Crossroads and an extensive series of nuclear tests at the Marshalls' atolls of Bikini and Enewetak.
- The USAAF combat units remained until fall, 1944 until being moved forwards into the Marianas, being assigned to airfields on Guam and Saipan.
- The closest airport to Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA) is Ebadon Airstrip (EBN), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) SSE of KWA.
- As of 2009, Bucholz Army Airfield is still operated by the United States Army.
- Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):
- Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
- The furthest airport from Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is Moruya Airport (MYA), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Maria Airport (meaning Santa Maria Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Moruya Airport), and is located 12,166 miles (19,579 kilometers) away in Moruya, New South Wales, Australia.
- Because of Santa Maria Airport's relatively low elevation of 308 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Maria 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.
- Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
- A chartered Boeing 707-300, Independent Air Flight 1851 from Bergamo, Italy in 1989 crashed on approach to Santa Maria Airport, when it struck the Pico Alto mountain.
- The airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.
- In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".