Nonstop flight route between New Plymouth, New Zealand and Santa Maria, Portugal:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from NPL to SMA:
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- About this route
- NPL Airport Information
- SMA Airport Information
- Facts about NPL
- Facts about SMA
- Map of Nearest Airports to NPL
- List of Nearest Airports to NPL
- Map of Furthest Airports from NPL
- List of Furthest Airports from NPL
- 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 New Plymouth Airport (NPL), New Plymouth, New Zealand and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,376 miles (or 18,308 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 New Plymouth 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 New Plymouth 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: | NPL / NZNP |
Airport Name: | New Plymouth Airport |
Location: | New Plymouth, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 39°0'30"S by 174°10'45"E |
Operator/Owner: | New Plymouth District Council Government of New Zealand |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 97 feet (30 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from NPL |
More Information: | NPL 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 New Plymouth Airport (NPL):
- New Plymouth Airport handled 332,178 passengers last year.
- The original airport opened in 1933 with the New Plymouth Airport Act.
- The closest airport to New Plymouth Airport (NPL) is Wanganui Airport (WAG), which is located 80 miles (129 kilometers) SE of NPL.
- New Plymouth Airport (NPL) has 3 runways.
- The airport's only sealed taxiway connects the apron and the asphalt runway, so aircraft taxi on the runway, and commence take off roll from runway ends.
- The furthest airport from New Plymouth Airport (NPL) is Badajoz Airport (BJZ), which is nearly antipodal to New Plymouth Airport (meaning New Plymouth Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Badajoz Airport), and is located 12,382 miles (19,928 kilometers) away in Badajoz, Spain.
- Because of New Plymouth Airport's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at New Plymouth 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.
Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):
- The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
- 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 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 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".
- 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".
- Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.