Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Gush Katif, Israel:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif Airport (GHK), Gush Katif, Israel would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,367 miles (or 5,418 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 Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif 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 Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif 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 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.
• 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 closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of 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.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• The airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• 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 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 Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif Airport (GHK):

• After the 1948 Palestinian exodus 35,000 refugees took shelter in a camp to the south of the present day airfield.
• The closest airport to Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif Airport (GHK) is Yasser Arafat International Airport (CLOSED) (GZA), which is located only 8 miles (14 kilometers) S of GHK.
• Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif Airport (GHK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif Airport's relatively low elevation of 107 feet, planes can take off or land at Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif 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.
• The UNRWA Khan Younis refugee camp is adjacent to and south of the airfield, and the UNRWA Khan Younis Vocational Training Centre, built in 2007, is immediately south of the runway.
• The furthest airport from Gaza Airstrip/Gush Katif Airport (GHK) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,728 miles (18,874 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.