Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Aspen, Colorado, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE), Aspen, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,283 miles (or 6,892 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 Aspen–Pitkin County 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 Aspen–Pitkin County 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):

• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• 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.
• 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.
• A chartered Boeing 707-300, Independent Air Flight 1851 from Bergamo, Italy in 1989 crashed on approach to Santa Maria Airport, when it struck the Pico Alto mountain.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE):

• In addition to being known as "Aspen–Pitkin County Airport", another name for ASE is "Sardy Field".
• Mesaba Airlines operating as Northwest Airlink flew the Avro RJ85, a later version of the BAe 146 jet, on seasonal nonstop flights to Minneapolis/St.
• One of the potential improvements included in the 2012 Updated Master Plan is the construction of a new airport terminal.
• Because of Aspen–Pitkin County Airport's high elevation of 7,820 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ASE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ASE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE) is Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) N of ASE.
• The Aspen–Pitkin County airport terminal is a 44,000 square feet single floor facility, which has undergone several renovations since its original construction in 1976.
• Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,971 miles (17,657 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.