Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Suffield, Alberta, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and CFB Suffield (YSD), Suffield, Alberta, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,154 miles (or 6,685 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 CFB Suffield, 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 CFB Suffield. 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):

• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• It has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".

Facts about CFB Suffield (YSD):

• British forces left the joint operation of Suffield to the Canadian Army in 1946.
• In 1971 an agreement was signed between the British and Canadian governments permitting the British Army to use over three-quarters of the Suffield Block for armoured, infantry, and artillery live-fire training.
• Canadian Forces Base Suffield is the largest Canadian Forces Base and the largest Commonwealth military training base in the world.
• The closest airport to CFB Suffield (YSD) is Medicine Hat Airport (YXH), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) SE of YSD.
• The decision to designate the Suffield Block a military training facility in 1941 left tens of square kilometres of undisturbed prairie grassland intact from the effects of industrial agriculture.
• The base has its own radio station, CKBF-FM, which airs programming for both the Canadian and British military personnel stationed at the base.
• British Army training has continued at Suffield since 1971, with the shared-use agreement being extended several times.
• The furthest airport from CFB Suffield (YSD) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,339 miles (16,640 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.