Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Decatur, Alabama, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU), Decatur, Alabama, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,403 miles (or 5,476 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 Pryor Field Regional 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 Pryor Field Regional 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):

• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• 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".
• For a while, Air France's supersonic Concordes were routed to Santa Maria on refueling layovers between Paris and Caracas.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• It has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.

Facts about Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU):

• Because of Pryor Field Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 592 feet, planes can take off or land at Pryor Field Regional 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.
• Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Opened in October 1941 with 4,600 by 4,600 feet square all-direction turf runway.
• In January 2010, the pilot training site was designated a historic landmark and added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
• The closest airport to Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU) is Huntsville International Airport (HSV), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DCU.
• In 2007, Chris Wright was struck by a propeller as he was "hand propping" starting his plane.
• Pryor Field Regional Airport covers an area of 200 acres which contains one asphalt paved runway measuring 6,107 x 100 ft.
• The furthest airport from Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,180 miles (17,992 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.