Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Tureira Airport (ZTA), Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,337 miles (or 13,416 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 Tureira 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 Tureira 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):

• 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 (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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• The airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.

Facts about Tureira Airport (ZTA):

• The closest airport to Tureira Airport (ZTA) is Nukutavake Airport (NUK), which is located 104 miles (167 kilometers) N of ZTA.
• The furthest airport from Tureira Airport (ZTA) is Al-Baha Domestic Airport (ABT), which is nearly antipodal to Tureira Airport (meaning Tureira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Al-Baha Domestic Airport), and is located 12,402 miles (19,958 kilometers) away in Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia.
• The village of Hakamaru, population 261, is the only settlement on Tureia, at the northern tip of the atoll.
• Administratively Tureia Atoll is the capital of the commune of Tureia, which includes the atolls of Fangataufa, Moruroa, Tematangi and Vanavana.
• Because of Tureira Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Tureira 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.
• From 1966 to 1999, Tureia hosted an outpost of the Centre d'Expérimentation du Pacifique, the French authority supervising nuclear tests on the nearby atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa, which lie about 70 miles/115 kilometres south of Tureia.