Nonstop flight route between Sacramento, California, United States and Pico Island, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Sacramento, California, United States and Pico Airport (PIX), Pico Island, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,777 miles (or 7,688 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 Sacramento International Airport and Pico 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 Sacramento International Airport and Pico 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 Sacramento International Airport (SMF):

• Sacramento International Airport (SMF) has 2 runways.
• In 2006 Sacramento International Airport was one of the first airports in the nation to offer free wireless Internet service.
• The following represents airline market share based on total passenger volume during the 2010 calendar year.
• Air Canada flew to this airport in 2007–2008 to Vancouver, but ended the route in 2008.
• The furthest airport from Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,280 miles (18,154 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In 2011 the airport carried an estimated 9 million passengers.
• The airport was a focus city for ExpressJet Airlines which independently operated Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets on point-to-point, "hub bypass" routes.
• Because of Sacramento International Airport's relatively low elevation of 27 feet, planes can take off or land at Sacramento 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.
• As the nation’s economy was taking a hit in 2008, commercial aviation was challenged by reduced passenger numbers and increasing fuel and other costs.
• Sacramento International Airport handled 8,910,570 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of SMF.

Facts about Pico Airport (PIX):

• In addition to being known as "Pico Airport", another name for PIX is "Aeroporto do Pico".
• The airport on Pico is situated 8 kilometres from the urban center of Madalena, at an altitude of 34 metres above sea level.
• Pico Airport (PIX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Pico Airport (PIX) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) W of PIX.
• The furthest airport from Pico Airport (PIX) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Pico Airport (meaning Pico Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,291 miles (19,781 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• Because of Pico Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Pico 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 1990, with the arrival of new ATP aircraft for SATA Air Açores' fleet, the decision was taken to extend the runway, to improve operations with this type of aircraft.