Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Sheldon Point, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Sheldon Point Airport (SXP), Sheldon Point, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,208 miles (or 8,381 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 Sheldon Point 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 Sheldon Point 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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".

Facts about Sheldon Point Airport (SXP):

• Because of Sheldon Point Airport's relatively low elevation of 12 feet, planes can take off or land at Sheldon Point 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 "Sheldon Point Airport", another name for SXP is "none".
• The closest airport to Sheldon Point Airport (SXP) is Alakanuk Airport (AUK), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) NNE of SXP.
• The furthest airport from Sheldon Point Airport (SXP) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,458 miles (16,831 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Sheldon Point Airport (SXP) has 3 runways.