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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Braga Airport (BGZ), Braga, Portugal and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,623 miles (or 9,049 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 Braga Airport and Santa Maria Public 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 Braga Airport and Santa Maria Public 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 Braga Airport (BGZ):

• Braga Airport (BGZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Braga Airport's relatively low elevation of 243 feet, planes can take off or land at Braga 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.
• The closest airport to Braga Airport (BGZ) is Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) SSW of BGZ.
• In addition to being known as "Braga Airport", another name for BGZ is "Aeródromo Municipal de Braga".
• The furthest airport from Braga Airport (BGZ) is Westport Airport (WSZ), which is nearly antipodal to Braga Airport (meaning Braga Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Westport Airport), and is located 12,426 miles (19,998 kilometers) away in Westport, New Zealand.

Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX):

• The closest airport to Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSW of SMX.
• During its use by the military Santa Maria AAF also controlled Estrella Army Airfield, near Paso Robles as an auxiliary airfield to support the pilot training activity.
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,466 miles (18,453 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The first airline to serve Santa Maria was Southwest Airways operating Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft.
• Because of Santa Maria Public Airport's relatively low elevation of 261 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Maria Public 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.
• A runway extension opened on May 3, 2012, from 6,304 ft.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• The extended primary runway at Santa Maria is paved to 8,004 feet, giving the airport the longest civil runway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the central coast and Vandenberg AFB's runway are longer).