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

Arrival Airport:

Distance from CAE to SMA:
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- About this route
- CAE Airport Information
- SMA Airport Information
- Facts about CAE
- Facts about SMA
- Map of Nearest Airports to CAE
- List of Nearest Airports to CAE
- Map of Furthest Airports from CAE
- List of Furthest Airports from CAE
- Map of Nearest Airports to SMA
- List of Nearest Airports to SMA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMA
- List of Furthest Airports from SMA
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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | CAE / KCAE |
Airport Name: | Columbia Metropolitan Airport |
Location: | West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°56'20"N by 81°7'9"W |
Area Served: | Columbia, South Carolina |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 236 feet (72 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from CAE |
More Information: | CAE Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SMA / LPAZ |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Santa Maria, Portugal |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°58'26"N by 25°10'15"W |
Area Served: | Vila do Porto |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Portugal |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 308 feet (94 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SMA |
More Information: | SMA Maps & Info |
Facts about Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE):
- 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 is a hub for UPS Airlines and was a hub for Air South, a former low-cost carrier.
- The airport was built in the 1940 as Lexington County Airport.
- 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.
- 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.
- Training at Columbia Army Air Base was phased down during the summer of 1945.
- Passenger service was begun by Delta Air Lines which has served Columbia for over 70 years.
- Columbia Metropolitan Airport handled 1,027,699 passengers last year.
- In 1941 the airport came under formal military control and an immediate program began to turn the civil airport into a military airfield.
- Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) has 2 runways.
- Passenger service is provided by five scheduled airlines, with commercial cargo service being handled by three scheduled airlines and numerous air freight operators.
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 handled 93,436 passengers last year.
- 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.
- The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
- Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
- 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.
- For a while, Air France's supersonic Concordes were routed to Santa Maria on refueling layovers between Paris and Caracas.