Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Bossier City, Louisiana, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD), Bossier City, Louisiana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,816 miles (or 6,142 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 Barksdale Air Force 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 Santa Maria Airport and Barksdale Air Force 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 Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• It has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• The forerunner of SATA Air Açores initiated services concurrently to São Miguel and Terceira from Santa Maria Airport on 5 August 1947, using a plane christened "Açor".
• 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.

Facts about Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD):

• The 2d Bomb Wing was assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command on 1 February 2010.
• The 91st maintained operational detachments of aircraft and crews drawn from several components to provide reconnaissance support in overseas areas, including the United Kingdom and locations in North Africa.
• Airships were still in use when field construction began, so Hangars One and Two were built large enough to accommodate them.
• The furthest airport from Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,884 miles (17,516 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Barksdale Field was renamed Barksdale Air Force Base on 13 January 1948, with the designation of the United States Air Force as a separate service in 1947.
• Barksdale Field was named in honor of 2nd Lieutenant Eugene Hoy Barksdale on 2 February 1933.
• In addition to being known as "Barksdale Air Force Base", another name for BAD is "Barksdale AFB".
• The closest airport to Barksdale Air Force Base (BAD) is Shreveport Downtown Airport (DTN), which is located only 5 miles (9 kilometers) WNW of BAD.