Nonstop flight route between Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,403 miles (or 7,086 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 Albuquerque International Sunport 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 Albuquerque International Sunport and Santa Maria 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 Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ):

• Albuquerque International Sunport Airport covers 2,039 acres and has four runways.
• The airport's freight center moved 67,000 tons of cargo in 2008.
• In addition to being known as "Albuquerque International Sunport", another name for ABQ is "Albuquerque".
• Albuquerque in the 1930s was served by two private airports, West Mesa Airport and Oxnard Field.
• Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) has 4 runways.
• A major new part of Albuquerque called Mesa del Sol is being developed 5 miles south of Albuquerque International Sunport and is planned to house 100,000 inhabitants by 2055.
• The largest passenger aircraft scheduled into Albuquerque is the Boeing 757, operated by Delta Air Lines on flights from Atlanta during spring and summer.
• Albuquerque International Sunport handled 5,801,641 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) is Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF), which is located 50 miles (80 kilometers) NE of ABQ.
• The furthest airport from Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,217 miles (18,051 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of Albuquerque International Sunport's high elevation of 5,355 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ABQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ABQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (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.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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 handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• It was built in the context of the Second World War, by US troops in order to maintain supply lines to Europe, and inaugurated on 26 July 1945.
• It has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• Transportes Aéreos Portugueses began lay-over flights to this airport on 7 December 1962, eventually inaugurating trans-Atlantic service between Santa Maria-New York and Santa Maria-Montreal.
• 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.