Nonstop flight route between West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE), West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,110 miles (or 5,005 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 Columbia Metropolitan 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 Columbia Metropolitan 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 Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE):

• Columbia Metropolitan Airport handled 1,027,699 passengers last year.
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport is the main commercial airport for Columbia and the Midlands region of South Carolina.
• One of the earliest units to train at Columbia AAB was the 17th Bombardment Group, which arrived on 9 February 1942.
• Because of Columbia Metropolitan Airport's relatively low elevation of 236 feet, planes can take off or land at Columbia Metropolitan 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 airport was built in the 1940 as Lexington County Airport.
• Passenger service is provided by five scheduled airlines, with commercial cargo service being handled by three scheduled airlines and numerous air freight operators.
• The furthest airport from Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,508 miles (18,520 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) has 2 runways.
• In August 1996, the UPS-owned cargo airline opened an $80 million southeastern regional hub at the airport, one of six regional hubs throughout the United States.
• The closest airport to Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport (CUB), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ENE of CAE.
• Passenger service was begun by Delta Air Lines which has served Columbia for over 70 years.

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• 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".
• It has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.