Nonstop flight route between St. Helens, Tasmania, Australia and Pico Island, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St Helens Airport (HLS), St. Helens, Tasmania, Australia and Pico Airport (PIX), Pico Island, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,178 miles (or 19,598 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 St Helens Airport and Pico 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 St Helens Airport and Pico Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between HLS and PIX makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between St Helens Airport and Pico Airport would be very impractical for the airlines, because only a lightly loaded Boeing 777-200LR would be able to make the trip. Since airlines need to be able to take as many people and cargo as possible in order to make a profit, the odds of ever seeing a nonstop flight between HLS and PIX are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from St. Helens, Tasmania, Australia and Pico Island, Azores, Portugal by taking some connecting flights!

Did you know that one full circling of the Earth (measuring from the equator) is about 24,901.5 miles (or 40,075 kilometers), which means if you were 12,450 miles from any given point on the planet, the distance back to your starting point would be about the same -- in any direction! The same can be said for a nonstop flight between HLS and PIX!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about St Helens Airport (HLS):

• The furthest airport from St Helens Airport (HLS) is Corvo Airport (CVU), which is nearly antipodal to St Helens Airport (meaning St Helens Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Corvo Airport), and is located 12,317 miles (19,823 kilometers) away in Corvo Island, Azores, Portugal.
• The closest airport to St Helens Airport (HLS) is Launceston Airport (LST), which is located 57 miles (92 kilometers) WSW of HLS.
• St Helens Airport (HLS) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of St Helens Airport's relatively low elevation of 158 feet, planes can take off or land at St Helens 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 Pico Airport (PIX):

• In 1990, with the arrival of new ATP aircraft for SATA Air Açores' fleet, the decision was taken to extend the runway, to improve operations with this type of aircraft.
• The airport on Pico is situated 8 kilometres from the urban center of Madalena, at an altitude of 34 metres above sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Pico Airport", another name for PIX is "Aeroporto do Pico".
• Pico Airport (PIX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Pico Airport (PIX) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Pico Airport (meaning Pico Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,291 miles (19,781 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• Managed by SATA Gestão de Aeródromos, it has an 1,754 metres operational runway, with a width of 45 metres.
• The closest airport to Pico Airport (PIX) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) W of PIX.
• Because of Pico Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Pico 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.