Nonstop flight route between Lajes, Azores, Portugal and San Juan, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lajes Air Base (TER), Lajes, Azores, Portugal and Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG), San Juan, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,721 miles (or 4,379 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 Lajes Air Base and Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci 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 Lajes Air Base and Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci 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 Lajes Air Base (TER):

• Lajes Air Base (TER) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2009 Lajes provided rescue support of shipping lanes across the Atlantic, a safe haven for medical or mechanical emergency situations in aircraft crossing the Atlantic, and support for the USAF's continuing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• In 1980, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck Terceira Island.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• In 1961, the Portuguese Air Force EICAP was transferred to Lajes, operating Douglas C-47, Douglas C-54 and later CASA C-212 Aviocar.
• Recently, in August 2010, Portuguese news agencies advised for the termination of the F-22 Raptor plan to use Lajes as a platform for DACT training over the Atlantic Ocean.
• During the Portuguese Colonial War, from 1961 to 1975, the Air Force Hospital at Lajes operated as the main centre for treatment and rehabilitation of mutilated and heavy burned soldiers of the three services of the Portuguese Armed Forces.
• Lajes Field was one of the two stopover and refueling bases for the first transatlantic crossing of non-rigid airships in 1944.
• The closest airport to Lajes Air Base (TER) is Graciosa Airport (GRW), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) WNW of TER.

Facts about Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG):

• On October 26, 2003, the airport made history by becoming the first Puerto Rican site of a SCCA Grand Prix race.
• Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG) currently has only 1 runway.
• A controversy regarding Isla Grande and Dorado Airport surfaced in 2003.
• Because of Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci 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 addition to being known as "Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport", another name for SIG is "Isla Grande AirportAeropuerto Isla Grande".
• The furthest airport from Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is nearly antipodal to Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (meaning Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Barrow Island Airport), and is located 12,244 miles (19,704 kilometers) away in Barrow Island, Western Australia, Australia.
• On July 8, 2012 airport officials denied via written communication to a local newspaper of "any plans to eliminate or privatize the airport, since the airport is one of the most important airports for general aviation on Puerto Rico, taking into account that its operation approximates around 300 daily operations." On that same newspaper it was published that Seaborne Airlines would transition its operations to the neighboring Luis Muñoz Marin Intl Airport with complete pullout on January 16, 2013.
• The closest airport to Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG) is Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) E of SIG.