Nonstop flight route between Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar and Bucharest, Romania:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sainte Marie Airport (SMS), Île Sainte-Marie, Madagascar and Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (BBU), Bucharest, Romania would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,511 miles (or 7,259 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 Sainte Marie Airport and Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu 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 Sainte Marie Airport and Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu 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 Sainte Marie Airport (SMS):

• Because of Sainte Marie Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Sainte Marie 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.
• Sainte Marie Airport (SMS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sainte Marie Airport (SMS) is Guerrero Negro Airport (GUB), which is located 11,161 miles (17,962 kilometers) away in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
• The closest airport to Sainte Marie Airport (SMS) is Toamasino Airport (TMM), which is located 76 miles (122 kilometers) SSW of SMS.

Facts about Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (BBU):

• Because of Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport's relatively low elevation of 299 feet, planes can take off or land at Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu 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.
• The building is a late 1940s design, and was not built to cope with more than 600,000 passengers per year and departures every 25 minutes.
• In 1920, the airport headquartered the first aviation company in Romania, and one of the earliest in the world, the CFRNA, the precursor of the Romanian national airline, TAROM.
• The furthest airport from Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (BBU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,321 miles (18,219 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (BBU) is Bucharest Henri Coandǎ International Airport (OTP), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) N of BBU.
• Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (BBU) currently has only 1 runway.
• From as low as 20 to 30 passengers per month in 2001–2002, BBU handled 119,000 passengers in 2004, and 2,398,911 passengers in 2011.
• In addition to being known as "Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport", another name for BBU is "Aeroportul Internaţional Bucureşti Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu".
• Bucharest Băneasa Aurel Vlaicu International Airport handled 6,036 passengers last year.
• As of 25 March 2012, all commercial flight operations have been moved to Bucharest Henri Coandă Airport.