Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Kars, Turkey:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Kars Airport (KSY), Kars, Turkey would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,593 miles (or 5,782 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 Kars 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 Kars 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):

• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.

Facts about Kars Airport (KSY):

• Kars Airport (KSY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kars Airport (KSY) is Shirak International Airport (LWN), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) ENE of KSY.
• The furthest airport from Kars Airport (KSY) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,224 miles (18,063 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• Because of Kars Airport's high elevation of 5,889 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at KSY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make KSY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Kars Airport", another name for KSY is "Kars Havaalanı".