Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Polacca, Arizona, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Polacca Airport (PXL), Polacca, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,566 miles (or 7,348 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 Polacca 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 Polacca 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):

• 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.
• 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 has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The forerunner of SATA Air Açores initiated services concurrently to São Miguel and Terceira from Santa Maria Airport on 5 August 1947, using a plane christened "Açor".
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".

Facts about Polacca Airport (PXL):

• The furthest airport from Polacca Airport (PXL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,266 miles (18,131 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Polacca Airport (PXL) currently has only 1 runway.
• This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.
• In addition to being known as "Polacca Airport", another name for PXL is "P10".
• The closest airport to Polacca Airport (PXL) is Winslow-Lindbergh Regional AirportWinslow Municipal Airport (INW), which is located 56 miles (90 kilometers) SSW of PXL.
• Because of Polacca Airport's high elevation of 5,573 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at PXL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make PXL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.