Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Barreiras, Bahia, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and Barreiras Airport (BRA), Barreiras, Bahia, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,894 miles (or 9,486 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 Public Airport and Barreiras 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 Public Airport and Barreiras 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 Public Airport (SMX):

• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• The first airline to serve Santa Maria was Southwest Airways operating Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft.
• The extended primary runway at Santa Maria is paved to 8,004 feet, giving the airport the longest civil runway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the central coast and Vandenberg AFB's runway are longer).
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSW of SMX.
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,466 miles (18,453 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Because of Santa Maria Public Airport's relatively low elevation of 261 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Maria Public 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.
• A 4,000-square-foot baggage claim facility opened in 2007.
• At one point during the early 1980's Swift Aire Lines, which was based at the nearby San Luis Obispo Airport, was the only airline flying nonstop between Santa Maria and Los Angeles, primarily with Fokker F27 Friendship turboprops which the carrier had purchased new from the manufacturer.

Facts about Barreiras Airport (BRA):

• The furthest airport from Barreiras Airport (BRA) is Yap International Airport (YAP), which is nearly antipodal to Barreiras Airport (meaning Barreiras Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Yap International Airport), and is located 12,161 miles (19,572 kilometers) away in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia.
• The closest airport to Barreiras Airport (BRA) is Bom Jesus da Lapa Airport (LAZ), which is located 135 miles (218 kilometers) SE of BRA.
• The airport was opened in 1940 and served as a strategic technical stop on the route Rio de Janeiro-Miami, enabling faster flights as compared with the ones operated via the coast.
• In addition to being known as "Barreiras Airport", another name for BRA is "Aeroporto de Barreiras".
• Barreiras Airport (BRA) currently has only 1 runway.