Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SMA to BZZ:
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- About this route
- SMA Airport Information
- BZZ Airport Information
- Facts about SMA
- Facts about BZZ
- Map of Nearest Airports to SMA
- List of Nearest Airports to SMA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMA
- List of Furthest Airports from SMA
- Map of Nearest Airports to BZZ
- List of Nearest Airports to BZZ
- Map of Furthest Airports from BZZ
- List of Furthest Airports from BZZ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and RAF Brize Norton (BZZ), Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,537 miles (or 2,473 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 relatively short distance between Santa Maria Airport and RAF Brize Norton, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure 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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BZZ / EGVN |
Airport Name: | RAF Brize Norton |
Location: | Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°45'0"N by 1°35'0"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from BZZ |
More Information: | BZZ Maps & Info |
Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):
- The forerunner of SATA Air Açores initiated services concurrently to São Miguel and Terceira from Santa Maria Airport on 5 August 1947, using a plane christened "Açor".
- Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
- In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
- 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.
- The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
- Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
Facts about RAF Brize Norton (BZZ):
- By 1950 the USAF Strategic Air Command was based at RAF Lakenheath, RAF Marham, and RAF Sculthorpe.
- RAF Brize Norton was opened in 1937 as a training station and one of the first squadrons to use the airfield was No.
- Like many UK military bases RAF Brize Norton has been subject to limited protests by peace demonstrators.
- During the 2003 Iraq War four anti-war protesters managed to access the main runway in an attempt to prevent aircraft taking off.
- The furthest airport from RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,888 miles (19,132 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
- The closest airport to RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is RAF Fairford (FFD), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WSW of BZZ.
- On 12 August 2006, campaigners restricted access at the main entrance for several hours in a protest against British policy in the Middle East.
- In 1970 two squadrons 99 Squadron and 511 Squadron operating the Bristol Britannia moved from RAF Lyneham.
- Following the Falklands War, the RAF found itself lacking in the strategic transport capabilities required to sustain the expanded military presence there.