Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Golmud, Qinghai, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Golmud Airport (GOQ), Golmud, Qinghai, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,077 miles (or 9,779 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 Golmud 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 Golmud 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 is an airport located 5 km west northwest of the urbanized area of Vila do Porto on the Portuguese island of Santa Maria, in the autonomous region of the Azores.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• 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.
• 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 Golmud Airport (GOQ):

• The furthest airport from Golmud Airport (GOQ) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is located 11,763 miles (18,930 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Golmud Airport", other names for GOQ include "格尔木机场" and "Gé'ěrmù Jīchǎng".
• Because of Golmud Airport's high elevation of 9,333 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GOQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GOQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Golmud Airport (GOQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Golmud Airport (GOQ) is Dunhuang Airport (DNH), which is located 260 miles (418 kilometers) N of GOQ.