Nonstop flight route between Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from FAI to SMA:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- FAI Airport Information
- SMA Airport Information
- Facts about FAI
- Facts about SMA
- 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 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 Fairbanks International Airport (FAI), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,758 miles (or 7,657 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 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 Fairbanks International 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: | 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: | 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 Fairbanks International Airport (FAI):
- 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.
- 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.
- Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) has 4 runways.
- 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.
- The airport serves many cargo airlines as a convenient refueling stop for some aircraft on trans-polar routes.
Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):
- 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.
- The airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.
- 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.
- 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.
- For a while, Air France's supersonic Concordes were routed to Santa Maria on refueling layovers between Paris and Caracas.