Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Cape Town, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Cape Town International Airport (CPT), Cape Town, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,653 miles (or 9,097 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 Cape Town 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 Cape Town 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 (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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 airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• 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 Cape Town International Airport (CPT):

• The furthest airport from Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is located 11,616 miles (18,693 kilometers) away in Hanalei, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Cape Town International Airport's relatively low elevation of 151 feet, planes can take off or land at Cape Town 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.
• Arriving passengers collect luggage in the old sections of their respective terminals, before proceeding through new passageways to the new Central Terminal Building.
• Cape Town International Airport was opened in 1954, a year after Jan Smuts Airport on the Witwatersrand opened.
• Cape Town International Airport recorded 7.8 million passengers in 2008–2009, down from 8.4 million passengers the year before.
• The MyCiTi bus rapid transit system provides a shuttle service connecting the airport with the Civic Centre bus station in the city centre.
• The closest airport to Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is George Airport (GRJ), which is located 217 miles (349 kilometers) E of CPT.
• Cape Town International Airport handled 8,505,563 passengers last year.
• Cape Town International Airport (CPT) has 2 runways.