Nonstop flight route between Phoenix, Arizona, United States and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Phoenix, Arizona, United States and Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,969 miles (or 9,607 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 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Santos Dumont 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 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Santos Dumont 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 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX):

• America West filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991 and sold its larger aircraft and Japanese route authority, but continued growing its domestic operations from Terminal 4 in cooperation with Continental Airlines.
• The 880,000 square-feet, $35 million Terminal 3, designed by DWL Architects + Planners, Inc., broke ground in January 1977 opened in October 1979 and has 17 gates, separated into two concourses by a central building outside of security.
• Bonanza Airlines moved its headquarters from Las Vegas to Phoenix in 1966.
• The airport is the primary regional hub and gateway for Mexican and Hawaiian departures for Tempe-based US Airways and is a focus city for Southwest Airlines.
• The furthest airport from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,450 miles (18,427 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is Scottsdale Airport (SCF), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) NNE of PHX.
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) has 3 runways.

Facts about Santos Dumont Airport (SDU):

• The furthest airport from Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santos Dumont Airport (meaning Santos Dumont Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,125 miles (19,513 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• The airport is located adjacent to downtown Rio de Janeiro.
• A new public terminal building for seaplanes was inaugurated on 29 October 1938.
• Santos Dumont Airport handled 9,204,603 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SDU.
• On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL152.2 million investment plan to upgrade Santos Dumont Airport, particularly the passenger arrivals terminal.
• In addition to being known as "Santos Dumont Airport", another name for SDU is "Aeroporto Santos Dumont".
• Due to a fire that almost destroyed the main terminal in 1999, the passenger terminal building was closed for 6 months.
• Because of Santos Dumont Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Santos Dumont 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.
• Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) has 2 runways.