Nonstop flight route between Quetzaltenango, Guatemala and Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from AAZ to RIA:
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- About this route
- AAZ Airport Information
- RIA Airport Information
- Facts about AAZ
- Facts about RIA
- Map of Nearest Airports to AAZ
- List of Nearest Airports to AAZ
- Map of Furthest Airports from AAZ
- List of Furthest Airports from AAZ
- Map of Nearest Airports to RIA
- List of Nearest Airports to RIA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RIA
- List of Furthest Airports from RIA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Quetzaltenango Airport (AAZ), Quetzaltenango, Guatemala and Santa Maria Airport (RIA), Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,979 miles (or 6,403 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 Quetzaltenango Airport 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 Quetzaltenango Airport 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: | AAZ / MGQZ |
Airport Name: | Quetzaltenango Airport |
Location: | Quetzaltenango, Guatemala |
GPS Coordinates: | 14°51'56"N by 91°30'6"W |
Operator/Owner: | Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil |
Airport Type: | Joint |
Elevation: | 7779 feet (2,371 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from AAZ |
More Information: | AAZ Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RIA / SBSM |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
GPS Coordinates: | 29°42'38"S by 53°41'31"W |
Area Served: | Santa Maria |
Operator/Owner: | Brazilian Air Force |
Airport Type: | Public/Military |
Elevation: | 289 feet (88 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from RIA |
More Information: | RIA Maps & Info |
Facts about Quetzaltenango Airport (AAZ):
- The furthest airport from Quetzaltenango Airport (AAZ) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,847 miles (19,066 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
- The closest airport to Quetzaltenango Airport (AAZ) is Quiché Airport (AQB), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) ENE of AAZ.
- Because of Quetzaltenango Airport's high elevation of 7,779 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at AAZ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make AAZ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- An emergency operations center has been installed at the airport in order to respond faster to disasters like hurricane Stan in the future.
- On 13 October 1999 a private Bell 206 helicopter crashed near Quetzaltenango.
- Quetzaltenango Airport (AAZ) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Santa Maria Airport (RIA):
- In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for RIA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
- Santa Maria Airport (RIA) has 2 runways.
- Since 1971, with the creation of the Santa Maria Air Force Base, civil and military facilities are shared.
- The furthest airport from Santa Maria Airport (RIA) is Aguni Airport (AGJ), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Maria Airport (meaning Santa Maria Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Aguni Airport), and is located 12,214 miles (19,656 kilometers) away in Aguni, Japan.
- Because of Santa Maria Airport's relatively low elevation of 289 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.
- Some of its facilities are shared with the Santa Maria Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force.
- The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (RIA) is João Batista Bos Filho Airport (IJU), which is located 93 miles (150 kilometers) N of RIA.