Nonstop flight route between Tusayan, Arizona, United States and Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN), Tusayan, Arizona, United States and Santa Maria Airport (RIA), Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,914 miles (or 9,517 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 Grand Canyon National Park 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 Grand Canyon National Park 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN):

• Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Grand Canyon National Park Airport's high elevation of 6,609 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Valle Airport (VLE), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) S of GCN.
• The furthest airport from Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,285 miles (18,162 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition, the airport was served in the past by America West Airlines operating de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprop aircraft to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
• On August 16, 2009, Air Force One, carrying President Barack Obama landed at Grand Canyon Airport at about 10am local time, for a four hour visit of the Canyon by the President and his family.

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (RIA):

• Some of its facilities are shared with the Santa Maria Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (RIA) is João Batista Bos Filho Airport (IJU), which is located 93 miles (150 kilometers) N of RIA.
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Airport (RIA) is Aguni Airport (AGJ), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Maria Airport (meaning Santa Maria Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Aguni Airport), and is located 12,214 miles (19,656 kilometers) away in Aguni, Japan.
• Santa Maria Airport (RIA) has 2 runways.
• It is operated by the Brazilian Air Force.
• Because of Santa Maria Airport's relatively low elevation of 289 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 RIA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".