Nonstop flight route between McKinleyville, California, United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV), McKinleyville, California, United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,009 miles (or 8,062 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 Arcata/Eureka 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 Arcata/Eureka 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV):

• In addition to being known as "Arcata/Eureka Airport", another name for ACV is "Arcata Airport".
• The closest airport to Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV) is Murray Field (EKA), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) S of ACV.
• Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV) has 2 runways.
• In 2008, the airport had 106,637 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 102,440 in 2009 and 93,402 in 2010.
• The approach path for runway 32 passes over Central Avenue.
• The furthest airport from Arcata/Eureka Airport (ACV) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,222 miles (18,059 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In 2005 the airport served 102,000 arriving commercial passengers and 104,000 departing on 4,370 departing flights.
• Because of Arcata/Eureka Airport's relatively low elevation of 222 feet, planes can take off or land at Arcata/Eureka 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 December 1947 a Southwest Airways Douglas DC-3 flying into the airport made the world's first blind landing by a scheduled commercial airliner using Ground-Controlled Approach radar, Instrument Landing System and Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation oil-burning units adjacent to the runway.
• In 2013 SkyWest Airlines Embraer EMB-120s were ACV's only scheduled flights.

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• It has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.
• Along with the airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Flores, Horta, Ponta Delgada and Beja, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation was conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• The airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• 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.