Nonstop flight route between Jacksonville, Florida, United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from NIP to SMA:
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- About this route
- NIP Airport Information
- SMA Airport Information
- Facts about NIP
- Facts about SMA
- Map of Nearest Airports to NIP
- List of Nearest Airports to NIP
- Map of Furthest Airports from NIP
- List of Furthest Airports from NIP
- Map of Nearest Airports to SMA
- List of Nearest Airports to SMA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMA
- List of Furthest Airports from SMA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between NAS Jacksonville (NIP), Jacksonville, Florida, United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,238 miles (or 5,211 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 NAS Jacksonville 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 NAS Jacksonville 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: | NIP / KNIP |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Jacksonville, Florida, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 30°14'8"N by 81°40'50"W |
Operator/Owner: | United States Navy |
Airport Type: | Military: Naval Air Station |
Elevation: | 22 feet (7 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from NIP |
More Information: | NIP Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SMA / LPAZ |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Santa Maria, Portugal |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°58'26"N by 25°10'15"W |
Area Served: | Vila do Porto |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Portugal |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 308 feet (94 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SMA |
More Information: | SMA Maps & Info |
Facts about NAS Jacksonville (NIP):
- Because of NAS Jacksonville's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at NAS Jacksonville 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.
- Today, 23,000 civilian and active-duty personnel are employed on the base.
- The first detail of Marines arrived from Parris Island, South Carolina on June 4, 1940 to secure the 3,250-acre area, setting up a barracks in a former residence on Allegheny Road.
- The closest airport to NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (CRG), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NE of NIP.
- The furthest airport from NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,460 miles (18,444 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
- In addition to being known as "NAS Jacksonville", another name for NIP is "Towers Field".
- NAS Jacksonville (NIP) has 2 runways.
- In March 1959, Marine Attack Squadron ONE FOUR TWO of the Marine Corps Reserve relocated to NAS Jacksonville from the closing MCAS Miami, along with the associated Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment.
- In 1973, with the assignment of Helicopter Antisubmarine Wing One, the station’s primary mission became antisubmarine warfare.
- A piece of history and Navy and Marine Corps tradition was lost in 1986 when the last unit of Marines left NAS Jacksonville.
- Prior to the commissioning, on September 7, Commander Jimmy Grant became the first pilot to land on the still unfinished runway in his N3N-3 biplane.
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.
- Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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 handled 93,436 passengers last year.
- 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.
- For a while, Air France's supersonic Concordes were routed to Santa Maria on refueling layovers between Paris and Caracas.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".