Nonstop flight route between Norfolk, Virginia (near Virginia Beach and Williamsburg), United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from ORF to SMA:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- ORF Airport Information
- SMA Airport Information
- Facts about ORF
- Facts about SMA
- Map of Nearest Airports to ORF
- List of Nearest Airports to ORF
- Map of Furthest Airports from ORF
- List of Furthest Airports from ORF
- 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 Norfolk International Airport (ORF), Norfolk, Virginia (near Virginia Beach and Williamsburg), United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,783 miles (or 4,479 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 Norfolk International 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 Norfolk International 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: | ORF / KORF |
Airport Name: | Norfolk International Airport |
Location: | Norfolk, Virginia (near Virginia Beach and Williamsburg), United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°53'40"N by 76°12'3"W |
Area Served: | Norfolk, Virginia |
Operator/Owner: | City of Norfolk |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 27 feet (8 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from ORF |
More Information: | ORF 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 Norfolk International Airport (ORF):
- General aviation services, or fixed based operations, are provided by Landmark Aviation with full-service facilities for maintaining and housing private and corporate aircraft.
- Because of Norfolk International Airport's relatively low elevation of 27 feet, planes can take off or land at Norfolk International 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.
- Changes continued throughout the 1990s as Norfolk International prepared for growth.
- All ground transportation services are located in the arrivals terminal.
- In 1950, responsibility for the airport was turned over to the newly established Norfolk Port and Industrial Authority which could proudly call Norfolk Municipal Airport one of the finest in the nation and one of the busiest.
- The closest airport to Norfolk International Airport (ORF) is Naval Station Norfolk (NGU), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) WNW of ORF.
- The furthest airport from Norfolk International Airport (ORF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,769 miles (18,940 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- Norfolk International Airport (ORF) has 2 runways.
Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Transportes Aéreos Portugueses began lay-over flights to this airport on 7 December 1962, eventually inaugurating trans-Atlantic service between Santa Maria-New York and Santa Maria-Montreal.
- 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.