Nonstop flight route between San José, Costa Rica and Lajes, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (SJO), San José, Costa Rica and Lajes Air Base (TER), Lajes, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,028 miles (or 6,482 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 Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) and Lajes Air Base, 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 Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) and Lajes Air Base. 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 Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (SJO):

• There is a bus stop outside the airport for the Alajuela - San José and Alajuela - Heredia route in both directions.
• Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (SJO) currently has only 1 runway.
• American Airlines Boeing 757 parked at Terminal 1
• Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) handled 4,257,606 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)", another name for SJO is "Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría".
• In July 2009 Alterra yielded the contract to a consortium composed of Houston-based Canadian-American company ADC & HAS and the Brazilian company, Andrade Gutierrez Concessoes - subsidiary of the conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez.
• Juan Santamaría International Airport was once the busiest airport in Central America, but currently it is ranked second after Tocumen International Airport in Panamá.
• The furthest airport from Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (SJO) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (meaning Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,270 miles (19,746 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Terminal buildings and main runway, 2003
• Juan Santamaria International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in Costa Rica, having experienced a constant increase in traffic since its opening in 1958, boosted by the growing flow of tourists.
• The closest airport to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) (SJO) is Tobías Bolaños International Airport (SYQ), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) ESE of SJO.
• The major operator in the airport is Avianca, followed by Copa Airlines.

Facts about Lajes Air Base (TER):

• Lajes Air Base (TER) currently has only 1 runway.
• On August 9, 1954, a Lockheed L-749A-79 Constellation operated by Avianca crashed three minutes after take off.
• The civilian terminal also plays an important role in support of passenger and cargo airliners, executive, corporate and private jets flying to the island or beyond as the central location in the Azores group of islands makes it an ideal spot for refuelling or stopover.
• Because of Lajes Air Base's relatively low elevation of 180 feet, planes can take off or land at Lajes Air Base 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 Lajes Air Base (TER) is Graciosa Airport (GRW), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) WNW of TER.
• The furthest airport from Lajes Air Base (TER) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Lajes Air Base (meaning Lajes Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,229 miles (19,680 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Lajes Air Base", other names for TER include "Base Aérea das Lajes", "Base Aérea Nº 4" and "Aeroporto das Lajes".
• During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Lajes Field also supported U.S.
• The United States and the United Kingdom transferred control of Lajes to Portugal in 1946.