Nonstop flight route between Arlington County, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), United States and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Arlington County, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), United States and Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,797 miles (or 7,720 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 Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Santos Dumont 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 Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Santos Dumont 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 Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA):

• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) has 3 runways.
• Terminal A opened in 1941 and was expanded in 1955 to accommodate more passengers and airlines.
• The closest airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is Bolling Air Force Base (BOF), which is located only 1 miles (2 kilometers) ESE of DCA.
• The furthest airport from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,682 miles (18,800 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Reagan National Airport is subject to a federally mandated perimeter limitation and may not accommodate nonstop flights to or from cities beyond 1,250-statute-mile, with limited exceptions.
• Given Reagan National Airport's proximity to the city and high-security facilities, Reagan National has extra security precautions required by the Washington Air Defense Identification Zone that have been in place since the airport began operations.
• Service to the airport's Metro station began in 1977.
• On February 6, 1998 President Bill Clinton signed legislation changing the airport's name from Washington National Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, to honor the former president on his 87th birthday.
• Because of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Ronald Reagan Washington National 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.

Facts about Santos Dumont Airport (SDU):

• In addition to being known as "Santos Dumont Airport", another name for SDU is "Aeroporto Santos Dumont".
• Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) has 2 runways.
• In 1934, in order to handle a growing amount of land operations, land was reclaimed from the sea to create the first runway of the airport with a length of 1,300 feet.
• Due to a fire that almost destroyed the main terminal in 1999, the passenger terminal building was closed for 6 months.
• The closest airport to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SDU.
• On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL152.2 million investment plan to upgrade Santos Dumont Airport, particularly the passenger arrivals terminal.
• On 21 May 1959 a formal agreement between Varig, Cruzeiro do Sul, and VASP created an air shuttle service, the first of its kind in the world.
• Santos Dumont Airport handled 9,204,603 passengers last year.
• All these bus services have their stops in front of the arrivals terminal and tickets can be bought in the bus while boarding.
• Because of Santos Dumont Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Santos Dumont 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 Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santos Dumont Airport (meaning Santos Dumont Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,125 miles (19,513 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.