Nonstop flight route between Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from FAI to SDU:
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- About this route
- FAI Airport Information
- SDU Airport Information
- Facts about FAI
- Facts about SDU
- Map of Nearest Airports to FAI
- List of Nearest Airports to FAI
- Map of Furthest Airports from FAI
- List of Furthest Airports from FAI
- Map of Nearest Airports to SDU
- List of Nearest Airports to SDU
- Map of Furthest Airports from SDU
- List of Furthest Airports from SDU
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Fairbanks International Airport (FAI), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,074 miles (or 12,993 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 Fairbanks International 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 Fairbanks International 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FAI / PAFA |
Airport Name: | Fairbanks International Airport |
Location: | Fairbanks, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 64°48'53"N by 147°51'23"W |
Area Served: | Fairbanks, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | State of Alaska DOT&PF |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 434 feet (132 meters) |
# of Runways: | 4 |
View all routes: | Routes from FAI |
More Information: | FAI Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SDU / SBRJ |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
GPS Coordinates: | 22°54'37"S by 43°9'46"W |
Area Served: | Rio de Janeiro |
Operator/Owner: | Infraero |
Airport Type: | Public/Military |
Elevation: | 11 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from SDU |
More Information: | SDU Maps & Info |
Facts about Fairbanks International Airport (FAI):
- Pan Am eventually used Fairbanks as a stopover for transpacific service from New York and Seattle to Tokyo starting in September 1969.
- The furthest airport from Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,289 miles (16,558 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- Because of Fairbanks International Airport's relatively low elevation of 434 feet, planes can take off or land at Fairbanks International 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.
- Fairbanks International Airport covers an area of 3,470 acres at an elevation of 439 feet above mean sea level.
- Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) has 4 runways.
- The closest airport to Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ENE of FAI.
- Pan American World Airways had also served Fairbanks since 1932.
Facts about Santos Dumont Airport (SDU):
- 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.
- Santos Dumont has slot restrictions operating with a maximum of 23 operations/hour, being one of the three airports with such restrictions in Brazil.
- In addition to being known as "Santos Dumont Airport", another name for SDU is "Aeroporto Santos Dumont".
- 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 airport is located adjacent to downtown Rio de Janeiro.
- Santos Dumont Airport handled 9,204,603 passengers last year.
- 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.
- Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) has 2 runways.
- With the gradual shift of international operations to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport opened in 1952, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont lost its place as an international hub, but for many years retained its position of a major hub for domestic traffic, particularly until 1960, when the capital of Brazil was moved to Brasília.