Nonstop flight route between Beja, Portugal and Santa Monica, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Beja Airport (BYJ), Beja, Portugal and Santa Monica Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,757 miles (or 9,265 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 Beja Airport and Santa Monica 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 Beja Airport and Santa Monica 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 Beja Airport (BYJ):

• An airbase was established on 21 October 1964, originally built to serve as a training facility for the West German Air Force, due to airspace limitations within West Germany.
• Along with the airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Flores, Santa Maria, Ponta Delgada and Horta, 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.
• Beja Airport (BYJ) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Beja Airport (BYJ) is New Plymouth Airport (NPL), which is nearly antipodal to Beja Airport (meaning Beja Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from New Plymouth Airport), and is located 12,306 miles (19,804 kilometers) away in New Plymouth, New Zealand.
• Beja Airport, located 9 km northwest of Beja, is 150 km away from Lisbon, 120 kilometres from Faro and less than 60 km from Spain.
• In 2011 a new civilian terminal was built and Beja became a dual-use military-civilian airport, aiming to attract low cost carriers.
• The closest airport to Beja Airport (BYJ) is Portimão Airport (PRM), which is located 73 miles (118 kilometers) SSW of BYJ.
• Because of Beja Airport's relatively low elevation of 636 feet, planes can take off or land at Beja 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 addition to being known as "Beja Airport", another name for BYJ is "Aeroporto de Beja".

Facts about Santa Monica Airport (SMO):

• In addition to being known as "Santa Monica Airport", other names for SMO include "Santa Monica Municipal Airport" and "Clover Field".
• The aviation aspects of aircraft operations at the Santa Monica Airport and use of the nation’s airspace is regulated by the federal government through the Federal Aviation Administration.
• In 1958, Donald Douglas asked the city to lengthen the airport's runway so that Douglas Aircraft could produce and test the DC-8 there.
• Santa Monica Airport (SMO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Operational Limitations – Touch-and-go, stop-and-go, and low approaches are prohibited on weekends, holidays, and weekdays from one-half hour after sunset until 7 am the following day.
• The furthest airport from Santa Monica Airport (SMO) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,484 miles (18,481 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Because of Santa Monica Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Monica 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 Santa Monica Airport (SMO) is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSE of SMO.
• Typhoon is the only restaurant on the airport property with a runway view and Spitfire Grill is across on Airport Avenue.
• As the Santa Monica Airport is one of relatively few general aviation airports in the nation that is surrounded on all sides by dense residential development, the City of Santa Monica aggressively enforces one of the most stringent noise ordinances in the nation.