Nonstop flight route between Milford Sound, New Zealand and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Milford Sound Airport (MFN), Milford Sound, New Zealand and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,572 miles (or 18,623 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 Milford Sound 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 Milford Sound 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 Milford Sound Airport (MFN):

• Milford Sound Airport (MFN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Milford Sound Airport (MFN) is Queenstown Airport (ZQN), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) ESE of MFN.
• Because of Milford Sound Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Milford Sound 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.
• Milford Sound Airport is a small but very busy airport in Milford Sound, in New Zealands Fiordland region of the South Island.
• On 17 November 1938, a Southland Airway’s Puss Moth piloted by Arthur Bradshaw made the first landing in at Milford Sound.
• 5Milford Sound Flightseeing
• Prior to the ability of air operations, Milford Sound had no access in the winter months as the roads became impassable.
• The furthest airport from Milford Sound Airport (MFN) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Milford Sound Airport (meaning Milford Sound Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,230 miles (19,682 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• The forerunner of SATA Air Açores initiated services concurrently to São Miguel and Terceira from Santa Maria Airport on 5 August 1947, using a plane christened "Açor".
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• A chartered Boeing 707-300, Independent Air Flight 1851 from Bergamo, Italy in 1989 crashed on approach to Santa Maria Airport, when it struck the Pico Alto mountain.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport is an airport located 5 km west northwest of the urbanized area of Vila do Porto on the Portuguese island of Santa Maria, in the autonomous region of the Azores.