Nonstop flight route between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Luqa, Malta:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SDU to MLA:
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- About this route
- SDU Airport Information
- MLA Airport Information
- Facts about SDU
- Facts about MLA
- Map of Nearest Airports to SDU
- List of Nearest Airports to SDU
- Map of Furthest Airports from SDU
- List of Furthest Airports from SDU
- Map of Nearest Airports to MLA
- List of Nearest Airports to MLA
- Map of Furthest Airports from MLA
- List of Furthest Airports from MLA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Malta International Airport (MLA), Luqa, Malta would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,536 miles (or 8,909 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 Santos Dumont Airport and Malta International 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 Santos Dumont Airport and Malta International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SDU / SBRJ |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
GPS Coordinates: | 22°54'37"S by 43°9'46"W |
Area Served: | Rio de Janeiro |
Operator/Owner: | Infraero |
Airport Type: | Public/Military |
Elevation: | 11 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from SDU |
More Information: | SDU Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MLA / LMML |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Luqa, Malta |
GPS Coordinates: | 35°51'27"N by 14°28'38"E |
Area Served: | Malta |
Operator/Owner: | Malta International Airport plc |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 300 feet (91 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from MLA |
More Information: | MLA Maps & Info |
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.
- Santos Dumont Airport handled 9,204,603 passengers last year.
- In 1934, in order to handle a growing amount of land operations, land was reclaimed from the sea to create the first runway of the airport with a length of 1,300 feet.
- Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) has 2 runways.
- 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.
- 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.
- Adjoining the original seaplane terminal, Pan American World Airways and its Brazilian subsidiary Panair do Brasil constructed their own dedicated terminal for seaplanes and aircraft with landing gear.
- In addition to being known as "Santos Dumont Airport", another name for SDU is "Aeroporto Santos Dumont".
- On 26 May 2007, in time for the 2007 Pan American Games, a brand-new, modern extension of the original terminal was opened.
Facts about Malta International Airport (MLA):
- Malta International Airport handled 405,200 passengers last year.
- The closest airport to Malta International Airport (MLA) is Xewkija / Gozo Heliport (GZM), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) NW of MLA.
- The furthest airport from Malta International Airport (MLA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,639 miles (18,731 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Malta International Airport (MLA) has 2 runways.
- The airport serves as the main hub for Air Malta and a base for Ryanair.
- Until the construction of the new air terminal was completed, the Government embarked on a further upgrade of the old air terminal.
- Because of Malta International Airport's relatively low elevation of 300 feet, planes can take off or land at Malta 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.
- Arriva Malta buses serve the airport.
- In addition to being known as "Malta International Airport", other names for MLA include "Luqa Airport" and "Valletta Airport".
- The airport is located 5 km southwest of the capital, Valletta.