Nonstop flight route between Dover, Delaware, United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Dover Air Force Base (DOV), Dover, Delaware, United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,705 miles (or 4,353 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 Dover Air Force Base 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 Dover Air Force Base 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 Dover Air Force Base (DOV):

• The closest airport to Dover Air Force Base (DOV) is Millville Municipal Airport (MIV), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) NE of DOV.
• Dover AFB is also the home for the largest military mortuary in the Department of Defense, and has been used for processing military personnel killed in both war and peacetime.
• During Desert Shield, the wing flew approximately 17,000 flying hours and airlifted a total of 131,275 tons of cargo in support of combat operations to free the Kingdom of Kuwait.
• In addition to being known as "Dover Air Force Base", another name for DOV is "Dover AFB".
• The furthest airport from Dover Air Force Base (DOV) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,750 miles (18,909 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1944 the Air Technical Service Command chose Dover as a site to engineer, develop, and conduct classified air-launched rocket tests.
• After the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the remains of the seven astronauts were transferred to Dover AFB.

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• Transportes Aéreos Portugueses began lay-over flights to this airport on 7 December 1962, eventually inaugurating trans-Atlantic service between Santa Maria-New York and Santa Maria-Montreal.
• 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 airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.