Nonstop flight route between Miles City, Montana, United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Miles City Airport (MLS), Miles City, Montana, United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,032 miles (or 6,489 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 Miles City 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 Miles City 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 Miles City Airport (MLS):

• Scheduled air service temporarily ceased on March 8, 2008, when Big Sky Airlines ended operations in bankruptcy.
• Miles City Airport (MLS) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Miles City Airport (MLS) is Dawson Community Airport (GDV), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) NE of MLS.
• Miles City Airport or Frank Wiley Field is a city-owned airport two miles northwest of Miles City, in Custer County, Montana.
• The furthest airport from Miles City Airport (MLS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,496 miles (16,892 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to being known as "Miles City Airport", another name for MLS is "Frank Wiley Field".

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• 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".
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• Along with the airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Flores, Horta, Ponta Delgada and Beja, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation was conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98.
• 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.
• 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 (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• It was built in the context of the Second World War, by US troops in order to maintain supply lines to Europe, and inaugurated on 26 July 1945.