Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Maxton, North Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Laurinburg-Maxton Airport (MXE), Maxton, North Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,996 miles (or 4,822 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 Laurinburg-Maxton 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 Laurinburg-Maxton 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 closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• The airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.

Facts about Laurinburg-Maxton Airport (MXE):

• The closest airport to Laurinburg-Maxton Airport (MXE) is Mackall Army Airfield (HFF), which is located only 18 miles (30 kilometers) NNW of MXE.
• In 2006 the forward fuselage of Northwest Airline’s first 747-100 was removed from the aircraft at Maxton by Guard-Lee for installation in the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington DC.
• In addition to being known as "Laurinburg-Maxton Airport", another name for MXE is "MEB".
• The furthest airport from Laurinburg-Maxton Airport (MXE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,610 miles (18,685 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Laurinburg-Maxton Airport (MXE) has 2 runways.
• Because of Laurinburg-Maxton Airport's relatively low elevation of 220 feet, planes can take off or land at Laurinburg-Maxton 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 airfield was constructed for the United States Army Air Force during World War II.
• Today the airfield is noted for being the home of Charlotte Aircraft, a company which parts-out and scraps older aircraft.