Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Quoin Hill, Vanuatu:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (RIA), Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), Quoin Hill, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,657 miles (or 15,542 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 Quoin Hill 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 Quoin Hill 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 1944 the President of Brazil Getúlio Vargas allocated an area of 4 million square meters near Santa Maria with the purpose of building an aerodrome.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport (RIA) has 2 runways.
• Santa Maria Airport is the airport serving Santa Maria, Brazil.
• Since 1971, with the creation of the Santa Maria Air Force Base, civil and military facilities are shared.
• 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.
• 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.
• Some of its facilities are shared with the Santa Maria Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for RIA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".

Facts about Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ):

• The furthest airport from Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is located 11,749 miles (18,907 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
• The closest airport to Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ) is Wake Island Airfield (AWK), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) NW of UIQ.
• Investigations took place in the late 1980s as to whether Quoin Hill could be used as an alternate for Bauerfield International Airport, but this never came to fruition.
• A site was chosen for a bomber airfield and in October the Seebees started constructing a 6,000 feet by 200 feet runway which was completed by the middle of January 1943.