Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Lilongwe, Malawi:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Lilongwe International Airport Kamuzu International Airport (LLW), Lilongwe, Malawi would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,190 miles (or 8,353 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 Lilongwe International Airport Kamuzu International 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 Lilongwe International Airport Kamuzu International 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.
• It has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.
• 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 (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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Lilongwe International Airport Kamuzu International Airport (LLW):

• Lilongwe International Airport Kamuzu International Airport (LLW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Lilongwe International Airport Kamuzu International Airport (LLW) is Salima Airport (LMB), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) E of LLW.
• Lilongwe International Airport Kamuzu International Airport handled 296,190 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Lilongwe International Airport Kamuzu International Airport (LLW) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is located 11,724 miles (18,867 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Lilongwe International Airport Kamuzu International Airport's high elevation of 4,035 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LLW. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LLW a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.