Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Merimbula Airport (MIM), Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,165 miles (or 19,577 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 Merimbula 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 Merimbula Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between SMA and MIM makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Santa Maria Airport and Merimbula Airport would be very impractical for the airlines, because only a lightly loaded Boeing 777-200LR would be able to make the trip. Since airlines need to be able to take as many people and cargo as possible in order to make a profit, the odds of ever seeing a nonstop flight between SMA and MIM are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Santa Maria, Portugal and Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia by taking some connecting flights!

Did you know that one full circling of the Earth (measuring from the equator) is about 24,901.5 miles (or 40,075 kilometers), which means if you were 12,450 miles from any given point on the planet, the distance back to your starting point would be about the same -- in any direction! The same can be said for a nonstop flight between SMA and MIM!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of 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.
• For a while, Air France's supersonic Concordes were routed to Santa Maria on refueling layovers between Paris and Caracas.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• It has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.
• 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 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.

Facts about Merimbula Airport (MIM):

• Because of Merimbula Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Merimbula 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 closest airport to Merimbula Airport (MIM) is Moruya Airport (MYA), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) N of MIM.
• The furthest airport from Merimbula Airport (MIM) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is nearly antipodal to Merimbula Airport (meaning Merimbula Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Horta International Airport), and is located 12,302 miles (19,799 kilometers) away in Horta, Azores, Portugal.
• Merimbula Airport (MIM) currently has only 1 runway.