Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Florence, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Florence Regional Airport (FLO), Florence, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,029 miles (or 4,875 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 Florence 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 Florence 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):

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

Facts about Florence Regional Airport (FLO):

• The furthest airport from Florence Regional Airport (FLO) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,589 miles (18,650 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In early 1945 the airfield was transferred to First Air Force, and the 127th Army Air Forces Base unit assumed the A-26 Invader training mission.
• Florence Regional Airport (FLO) has 2 runways.
• The airport began with the purchase of 300 acres in 1928.
• The closest airport to Florence Regional Airport (FLO) is Hartsville Regional Airport (HVS), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NW of FLO.
• Because of Florence Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 146 feet, planes can take off or land at Florence 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.
• Operation of the airport was assigned to the Pee Dee Regional Airport Authority in 1999.
• In addition to being known as "Florence Regional Airport", another name for FLO is "(former Florence Army Airfield)".