Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Ruislip, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SMA to NHT:
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- About this route
- SMA Airport Information
- NHT Airport Information
- Facts about SMA
- Facts about NHT
- Map of Nearest Airports to SMA
- List of Nearest Airports to SMA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMA
- List of Furthest Airports from SMA
- Map of Nearest Airports to NHT
- List of Nearest Airports to NHT
- Map of Furthest Airports from NHT
- List of Furthest Airports from NHT
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and RAF Northolt (NHT), Ruislip, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,572 miles (or 2,530 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 relatively short distance between Santa Maria Airport and RAF Northolt, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SMA / LPAZ |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Santa Maria, Portugal |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°58'26"N by 25°10'15"W |
Area Served: | Vila do Porto |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Portugal |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 308 feet (94 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SMA |
More Information: | SMA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | NHT / EGWU |
Airport Name: | RAF Northolt |
Location: | Ruislip, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°33'11"N by 0°25'5"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from NHT |
More Information: | NHT Maps & Info |
Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):
- 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.
- Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
- 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 handled 93,436 passengers last year.
- In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
- Transportes Aéreos Portugueses began lay-over flights to this airport on 7 December 1962, eventually inaugurating trans-Atlantic service between Santa Maria-New York and Santa Maria-Montreal.
Facts about RAF Northolt (NHT):
- RAF Northolt became home to Prime Minister Winston Churchill's personal aircraft, a modified Douglas C-54 Skymaster, in June 1944.
- The closest airport to RAF Northolt (NHT) is London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of NHT.
- The furthest airport from RAF Northolt (NHT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- The overnight base of the London Air Ambulance moved to RAF Northolt from Denham Aerodrome in February 2013.
- The outbreak of the First World War necessitated a new aerodrome for the Royal Flying Corps.