Nonstop flight route between Palo Alto, California, United States and Porto Santo, Madeira, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), Palo Alto, California, United States and Porto Santo Airport (PXO), Porto Santo, Madeira, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,618 miles (or 9,041 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 Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County and Porto Santo 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 Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County and Porto Santo 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 Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO):

• Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County's relatively low elevation of 4 feet, planes can take off or land at Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County 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 Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,289 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Fifteen miles of hiking and biking trails, affording multiple opportunities for birdwatching, form part of the adjacent 1,940-acre Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve.
• First time pilots should familiarize themselves with the complex SF Bay Area airspace, especially the overlying SFO Class B and the abutting SJC Class C airspace.
• In 1989 a comprehensive area history analysis was conducted by Earth Metrics, based upon review of extant aerial photographs.
• The closest airport to Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) is Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of PAO.

Facts about Porto Santo Airport (PXO):

• Porto Santo Airport (PXO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The island of Porto Santo was the first of the Madeira Islands to obtain an airport.
• Porto Santo Airport handled 106,592 passengers last year.
• In 1959, its runway was built with an initial length of 2,000 m.
• The closest airport to Porto Santo Airport (PXO) is Madeira Airport (FNC), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) SW of PXO.
• In addition to being known as "Porto Santo Airport", another name for PXO is "Aeroporto de Porto Santo".
• The furthest airport from Porto Santo Airport (PXO) is Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), which is nearly antipodal to Porto Santo Airport (meaning Porto Santo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lord Howe Island Airport), and is located 12,150 miles (19,553 kilometers) away in Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.
• Because of Porto Santo Airport's relatively low elevation of 338 feet, planes can take off or land at Porto Santo 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.