Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Lalibela, Ethiopia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Lalibela Airport (LLI), Lalibela, Ethiopia would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,302 miles (or 6,923 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 Lalibela 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 Lalibela 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 (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• For a while, Air France's supersonic Concordes were routed to Santa Maria on refueling layovers between Paris and Caracas.
• 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.
• Along with the airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Flores, Horta, Ponta Delgada and Beja, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation was conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• 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.

Facts about Lalibela Airport (LLI):

• The furthest airport from Lalibela Airport (LLI) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Lalibela Airport (meaning Lalibela Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,233 miles (19,687 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Lalibela Airport (LLI) is Debre Tabor Airport (DBT), which is located 67 miles (107 kilometers) W of LLI.
• Lalibela Airport (LLI) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Lalibela Airport's high elevation of 6,424 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LLI. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LLI a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.