Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ), Bury St. Edmunds, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,644 miles (or 2,645 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 relatively short distance between Santa Maria Airport and RAF Honington USAAF Station 375, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• 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.
• 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.
• It has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.

Facts about RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ):

• In June 1942, the airfield was transferred to the USAAF and was upgraded to a Class A Bomber base.
• In the event, the F-111 never entered service with the RAF, and in 1968, the airfield became the UK base for the RAF's Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer bomber.
• The furthest airport from RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,834 miles (19,044 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Although the last mission by the 364th took place on 25 April 1945, the group did not depart until November, returning to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, for inactivation.
• The 364th also flew air-sea rescue missions, engaged in patrol activities, and continued to support ground forces as the battle line moved through France and into Germany.
• Then, in May of that year, a Wellington returning from a night trip attempted to land at Honington with its wheels retracted.
• The closest airport to RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) WNW of BEQ.