Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Kwajalein, Marshall Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (RIA), Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA), Kwajalein, Marshall Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,394 miles (or 15,118 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 Santa Maria Airport and Bucholz Army Airfield, 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 Santa Maria Airport and Bucholz Army Airfield. 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 Santa Maria Airport (RIA):

• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for RIA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• Because of Santa Maria Airport's relatively low elevation of 289 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.
• Santa Maria Airport is the airport serving Santa Maria, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (RIA) is João Batista Bos Filho Airport (IJU), which is located 93 miles (150 kilometers) N of RIA.
• Santa Maria Airport (RIA) has 2 runways.
• Since 1971, with the creation of the Santa Maria Air Force Base, civil and military facilities are shared.
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Airport (RIA) is Aguni Airport (AGJ), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Maria Airport (meaning Santa Maria Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Aguni Airport), and is located 12,214 miles (19,656 kilometers) away in Aguni, Japan.

Facts about Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA):

• The closest airport to Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA) is Ebadon Airstrip (EBN), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) SSE of KWA.
• Along with the heavy bomber groups, the USAAF reassigned the F-5 -equipped 28th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron to Kwajalein to fly long-range photographic missions over the Marshalls and reported directly to Headquarters, Seventh Air Force.
• The furthest airport from Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is nearly antipodal to Bucholz Army Airfield (meaning Bucholz Army Airfield is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from RAF Ascension), and is located 12,283 miles (19,767 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
• Because of Bucholz Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Bucholz Army Airfield 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.
• Bucholz Army Airfield was initially built by the Japanese in 1943 as part of a large naval base.
• Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Although the Marshall Islands was officially granted independence from the United States, and became an independent republic in 1986, Kwajalein atoll is still used by the United States for missile testing and various other operations.