Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando), United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Orlando/Sanford International Airport (SFB), Sanford, Florida (near Orlando), United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,256 miles (or 5,240 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 Orlando/Sanford 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 Orlando/Sanford 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):

• 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.
• 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 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".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Orlando/Sanford International Airport (SFB):

• The City of Sanford assumed control of the former NAS Sanford in 1969 and renamed the facility Sanford Airport, hiring the air station's recently retired Executive Officer, Commander J.
• The furthest airport from Orlando/Sanford International Airport (SFB) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,507 miles (18,518 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Additional name changes followed, to include Sanford Regional Airport, Central Florida Regional Airport, Orlando Sanford Regional Airport and the current Orlando Sanford International Airport.
• The closest airport to Orlando/Sanford International Airport (SFB) is Orlando Executive Airport (ORL), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) SSW of SFB.
• Orlando/Sanford International Airport (SFB) has 4 runways.
• Orlando-Sanford International Airport started life as Naval Air Station Sanford with the airport codes NRJ and KNRJ.
• Because of Orlando/Sanford International Airport's relatively low elevation of 55 feet, planes can take off or land at Orlando/Sanford International 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.