Nonstop flight route between Santa Rosa, California, United States and Lajes, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport (STS), Santa Rosa, California, United States and Lajes Air Base (TER), Lajes, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,891 miles (or 7,872 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 Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport and Lajes Air 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 Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport and Lajes Air 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 Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport (STS):

• In addition to being known as "Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport", another name for STS is "Santa Rosa Army Airfield".
• All Alaska Airlines flights from the airport are operated with the 76-seat Bombardier Q400 propjet, which is the largest and fastest member of the DHC-8 Dash 8 family of regional turboprops.
• Because of Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport's relatively low elevation of 125 feet, planes can take off or land at Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County 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 furthest airport from Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport (STS) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,331 miles (18,235 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Opened in June 1942 and known as Santa Rosa Army Air Field, the airfield was assigned to Fourth Air Force as a group and replacement training airfield.
• Service to Las Vegas was stopped June 3, 2012.
• From the late 1940s until about 1974 Southwest Airways and successors Pacific Air Lines, Air West and Hughes Airwest served Santa Rosa.
• On average, the base pumps about 300,000 US gallons of retardant a year.
• The closest airport to Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport (STS) is Marin County Airport (NOT), which is located 29 miles (46 kilometers) SSE of STS.
• In the 1930s Santa Rosa had a small municipal airfield owned by Richfield Oil Corporation next to the Redwood Highway about 4 miles southeast of the present airport.
• Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport (STS) has 2 runways.

Facts about Lajes Air Base (TER):

• Lajes provides support to 15,000 aircraft, including fighters from the US and 20 other allied nations each.
• The closest airport to Lajes Air Base (TER) is Graciosa Airport (GRW), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) WNW of TER.
• In 1947, the Portuguese Esquadra 41 started to operate from Lajes, equipped with Boeing SB-17, Grumman HU-16 Albatross, Douglas C-54 Skymaster and, later Sikorsky H-19.
• The furthest airport from Lajes Air Base (TER) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Lajes Air Base (meaning Lajes Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,229 miles (19,680 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• Lajes Field also played a crucial role in Cold War politics.
• In addition to being known as "Lajes Air Base", other names for TER include "Base Aérea das Lajes", "Base Aérea Nº 4" and "Aeroporto das Lajes".
• The civilian terminal also plays an important role in support of passenger and cargo airliners, executive, corporate and private jets flying to the island or beyond as the central location in the Azores group of islands makes it an ideal spot for refuelling or stopover.
• Because of Lajes Air Base's relatively low elevation of 180 feet, planes can take off or land at Lajes Air 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.
• Lajes Air Base (TER) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1980, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck Terceira Island.