Nonstop flight route between Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shannon Airport (SNN), Shannon (County Clare), Ireland and Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ), Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,629 miles (or 9,059 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 Shannon Airport and Santa Cruz Air Force Base, 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 Shannon Airport and Santa Cruz Air Force Base. 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 Shannon Airport (SNN):

• CityJet launched a twice-daily route to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2008 when Aer Lingus closed its London Heathrow flights.
• The number of international carriers rose sharply in succeeding years as Shannon became well known as the gateway between Europe and the Americas.
• In 2005, an agreement was reached regarding a transitional period.
• Shannon Airport handled 1,400,032 passengers last year.
• The first passengers through the newly autonomous airport arrived on the Aer Lingus EI-110 flight from JFK at 5:08 am on 1 January 2013.
• In addition to being known as "Shannon Airport", another name for SNN is "Aerfort na Sionainne".
• The furthest airport from Shannon Airport (SNN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Shannon Airport (meaning Shannon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,015 miles (19,336 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• In 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport.
• Because of Shannon Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Shannon 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.
• During the 1990s, the airport began to struggle.
• Shannon Airport (SNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Shannon Airport (SNN) is Inisheer Aerodrome (INQ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) NW of SNN.

Facts about Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ):

• The closest airport to Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) ENE of SNZ.
• Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 12 February 1942, six months before Brazil declaring war against the Axis, the airport became a base of the Brazilian Air Force.
• Because of Santa Cruz Air Force Base's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Cruz Air Force Base 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 base is located 54 km from Rio de Janeiro downtown in the district of Santa Cruz.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Cruz Air Force Base", another name for SNZ is "Base Aérea de Santa Cruz".
• The furthest airport from Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Cruz Air Force Base (meaning Santa Cruz Air Force Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,093 miles (19,462 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.