Nonstop flight route between Novato, California, United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Marin County Airport (NOT), Novato, California, United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,051 miles (or 8,128 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 Marin County 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 Marin County 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 Marin County Airport (NOT):

• Marin County Airport (NOT) currently has only 1 runway.
• There is a plan to extend the length of Gnoss' runway by 1100', to 4400'.
• Because of Marin County Airport's relatively low elevation of 2 feet, planes can take off or land at Marin County 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 1968 the County of Marin bought the airport and moved it to its present location.
• The furthest airport from Marin County Airport (NOT) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,343 miles (18,254 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• When Gnoss Field's crosswinds exceed pilot or aircraft limitations, local pilots generally land at Petaluma Municipal / K069, 327 magnetic heading) or Napa County Airport / KAPC, 058 magnetic heading).
• Gnoss Field is known to local pilots and flight instructors as an excellent airport to practice crosswind landings, especially during afternoons in the late spring and summer when the west wind picks up.
• In addition to being known as "Marin County Airport", other names for NOT include "Gnoss Field" and "DVO".
• The closest airport to Marin County Airport (NOT) is Napa County Airport (APC), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) ENE of NOT.
• Somehow Gnoss's single runway is laid out almost exactly perpendicular to the prevailing offshore west winds.

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".
• For a while, Air France's supersonic Concordes were routed to Santa Maria on refueling layovers between Paris and Caracas.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• 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 (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.