Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Detroit, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Coleman A. Young International Airport (DET), Detroit, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,039 miles (or 4,890 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 Coleman A. Young 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 Coleman A. Young 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):

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

Facts about Coleman A. Young International Airport (DET):

• The airport was once served by Southwest Airlines and Chautauqua Airlines which left after less than one year of service.Spirit Airlines planned service to the airport using McDonnell-Douglas DC-9 aircraft in 1995, but the service never began.Pro Air, a commercial passenger airline, was based at the airport and grounded by the FAA due to poor maintenance performance.
• Because of Coleman A. Young International Airport's relatively low elevation of 626 feet, planes can take off or land at Coleman A. Young 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.
• Coleman A. Young International Airport (DET) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Coleman A. Young International Airport (DET) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,295 miles (18,178 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Coleman A. Young International Airport (DET) is Windsor International Airport (YQG), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) SSE of DET.