Nonstop flight route between Aviano, Pordenone, Italy and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Aviano Air Base (AVB), Aviano, Pordenone, Italy and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,030 miles (or 3,268 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 Aviano Air Base and Santa Maria Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Aviano Air Base (AVB):

• During World War II, both the Italian Air Force and the German Luftwaffe flew missions from Aeroporto Pagliano e Gori.
• To avoid losing the wing’s heritage and history as the highest scoring Army Air Force unit in the Mediterranean Theater in WWII, the impressive combat record in Vietnam and number of significant firsts they produced in the early years of the Air Force, the 31 FW was chosen to move rather than fade into obscurity.
• In addition to being known as "Aviano Air Base", another name for AVB is "Aviano AB".
• The 31st Fighter Wing continued deploying forces in support of OIF and OEF, with more than one-third of the wing deploying to support operations each year from 2003 to 2007.
• The closest airport to Aviano Air Base (AVB) is Belluno Airport (BLX), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) WNW of AVB.
• In August and September, Operation Deliberate Force began and the 31st FW conducted air strikes against Bosnian Serbs conducting ethnic purges among the Muslim population of the country.
• The furthest airport from Aviano Air Base (AVB) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,968 miles (19,261 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• From June through December 2001, the fighter squadrons deployed combat search and rescue capabilities three times and helped enforce the no fly zone over Iraq.

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• 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.
• 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.