Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Charlottesville, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport (CHO), Charlottesville, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,878 miles (or 4,632 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 Charlottesville–Albemarle 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 Charlottesville–Albemarle 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):

• 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.
• 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".
• 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.
• It was built in the context of the Second World War, by US troops in order to maintain supply lines to Europe, and inaugurated on 26 July 1945.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport (CHO):

• As of January 31, 2014, Allegiant airlines announced that they would be ending service between Charlottesville and Orlando-Sanford on February 23, 2014.
• The closest airport to Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport (CHO) is Orange County Airport (OMH), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) ENE of CHO.
• The furthest airport from Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport (CHO) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,627 miles (18,711 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport (CHO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport has a 60,000 sq ft terminal with on-site rental cars, ground transportation, and food service and gifts from "The Market" Gourmet Deli & Gift Shop.General aviation facilities include an executive terminal offering a full-service by the fixed base operator, Landmark Aviation, flight schools, emergency medical transportation provided by the UVA Hospital's Pegasus service and aircraft charter firms.
• Because of Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport's relatively low elevation of 639 feet, planes can take off or land at Charlottesville–Albemarle 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.