Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Ashgabat, Turkmenistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Ashgabat International Airport (ASB), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,410 miles (or 7,097 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 Ashgabat 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 Santa Maria Airport and Ashgabat International 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 Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• Santa Maria Airport is an airport located 5 km west northwest of the urbanized area of Vila do Porto on the Portuguese island of Santa Maria, in the autonomous region of the Azores.
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is Moruya Airport (MYA), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Maria Airport (meaning Santa Maria Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Moruya Airport), and is located 12,166 miles (19,579 kilometers) away in Moruya, New South Wales, Australia.
• Along with the airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Flores, Horta, Ponta Delgada and Beja, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation was conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98.
• Because of Santa Maria Airport's relatively low elevation of 308 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 (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• Transportes Aéreos Portugueses began lay-over flights to this airport on 7 December 1962, eventually inaugurating trans-Atlantic service between Santa Maria-New York and Santa Maria-Montreal.

Facts about Ashgabat International Airport (ASB):

• In addition to being known as "Ashgabat International Airport", another name for ASB is "Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy halkara aeroporty".
• The airport, with its air traffic control tower and a 12,000-foot long precision approach runway, opened in 1994 and was named after the country's first president, Saparmyrat Niyazov.
• Because of Ashgabat International Airport's relatively low elevation of 692 feet, planes can take off or land at Ashgabat 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.
• Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) has 3 runways.
• The airport includes passenger waiting rooms, service passport, customs, border control, a 24-hour reference service, VIP and CIP rooms, a business club, a ticket office, shops, bars, fast-food outlets, currency exchange, a new baggage handling conveyor system, international telephone, a mother and child room and the offices of the airlines.
• The closest airport to Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) is Bojnord Airport (BJB), which is located 67 miles (108 kilometers) WSW of ASB.
• On 26 March 2014 a small passenger terminal was opened during a ceremony attended by the President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
• The furthest airport from Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,407 miles (18,357 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• As part of Saparmurat Niyazov's aspiration to transform Turkmenistan into 'the new Kuwait', he sought to construct a distinctive airport.
• In Soviet times, the airport was used exclusively for domestic flights.