Nonstop flight route between Mafeteng, Lesotho and Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from MFC to RIA:
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- About this route
- MFC Airport Information
- RIA Airport Information
- Facts about MFC
- Facts about RIA
- Map of Nearest Airports to MFC
- List of Nearest Airports to MFC
- Map of Furthest Airports from MFC
- List of Furthest Airports from MFC
- Map of Nearest Airports to RIA
- List of Nearest Airports to RIA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RIA
- List of Furthest Airports from RIA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Mafeteng Airport (MFC), Mafeteng, Lesotho and Santa Maria Airport (RIA), Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,739 miles (or 7,627 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 Mafeteng 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 Mafeteng 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: | MFC / FXMF |
Airport Name: | Mafeteng Airport |
Location: | Mafeteng, Lesotho |
GPS Coordinates: | 29°48'2"S by 27°14'35"E |
Area Served: | Mafeteng |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5350 feet (1,631 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from MFC |
More Information: | MFC Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RIA / SBSM |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
GPS Coordinates: | 29°42'38"S by 53°41'31"W |
Area Served: | Santa Maria |
Operator/Owner: | Brazilian Air Force |
Airport Type: | Public/Military |
Elevation: | 289 feet (88 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from RIA |
More Information: | RIA Maps & Info |
Facts about Mafeteng Airport (MFC):
- The closest airport to Mafeteng Airport (MFC) is Moshoeshoe I International Airport (MSU), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) NE of MFC.
- Mafeteng Airport (MFC) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Mafeteng Airport (MFC) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,788 miles (18,971 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
- Because of Mafeteng Airport's high elevation of 5,350 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MFC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MFC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
Facts about Santa Maria Airport (RIA):
- 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.
- Santa Maria Airport (RIA) has 2 runways.
- In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for RIA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
- 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.
- In 1944 the President of Brazil Getúlio Vargas allocated an area of 4 million square meters near Santa Maria with the purpose of building an aerodrome.
- 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.