Nonstop flight route between Alliance, Nebraska, United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Alliance Municipal Airport (AIA), Alliance, Nebraska, United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,007 miles (or 6,449 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 Alliance Municipal 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 Alliance Municipal 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 Alliance Municipal Airport (AIA):

• Great Lakes suffers a $2,450,711 annual operating loss providing service to Alliance and Chadron.
• Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 1,786 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 1,395 in 2009 and 1,416 in 2010.
• As paratroopers flooded into Alliance, housing was short.
• The furthest airport from Alliance Municipal Airport (AIA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,697 miles (17,215 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Alliance Municipal Airport (AIA) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Alliance Municipal Airport (AIA) is Western Nebraska Regional Airport (BFF), which is located 43 miles (68 kilometers) WSW of AIA.
• In addition to being known as "Alliance Municipal Airport", another name for AIA is "(former Alliance Army Airfield)".
• Though speculation was that the Army would make the huge Alliance airfield a permanent installation, by November 20 the Troop Carrier Command closed the facility permanently and began to make plans to sell the surplus property.

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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• Santa Maria Airport is an airport located 5 km west northwest of the urbanized area of Vila do Porto on the Portuguese island of Santa Maria, in the autonomous region of the Azores.
• 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.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.