Nonstop flight route between Van Nuys, California, United States and Santa Maria, Portugal:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from VNY to SMA:
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- About this route
- VNY Airport Information
- SMA Airport Information
- Facts about VNY
- Facts about SMA
- Map of Nearest Airports to VNY
- List of Nearest Airports to VNY
- Map of Furthest Airports from VNY
- List of Furthest Airports from VNY
- Map of Nearest Airports to SMA
- List of Nearest Airports to SMA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SMA
- List of Furthest Airports from SMA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Van Nuys Airport (VNY), Van Nuys, California, United States and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,013 miles (or 8,067 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 Van Nuys Airport and Santa Maria 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 Van Nuys Airport and Santa Maria Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | VNY / KVNY |
| Airport Name: | Van Nuys Airport |
| Location: | Van Nuys, California, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 34°12'34"N by 118°29'23"W |
| Area Served: | Los Angeles, California |
| Operator/Owner: | Los Angeles World Airports |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 802 feet (244 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from VNY |
| More Information: | VNY Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SMA / LPAZ |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Santa Maria, Portugal |
| GPS Coordinates: | 36°58'26"N by 25°10'15"W |
| Area Served: | Vila do Porto |
| Operator/Owner: | Government of Portugal |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 308 feet (94 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SMA |
| More Information: | SMA Maps & Info |
Facts about Van Nuys Airport (VNY):
- Legend has it that Burbank Airport provided the setting for Humphrey Bogart's famous goodbye in the film Casablanca.
- Van Nuys Airport (VNY) has 2 runways.
- A major part of the science fiction classic Silent Running was filmed at the Van Nuys Airport in March 1971.
- The closest airport to Van Nuys Airport (VNY) is Whiteman Airport (WHP), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NE of VNY.
- The furthest airport from Van Nuys Airport (VNY) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,472 miles (18,463 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- Most news helicopters from the Los Angeles area are based at Van Nuys Airport.
- Because of Van Nuys Airport's relatively low elevation of 802 feet, planes can take off or land at Van Nuys 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.
Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):
- In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
- Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Santa Maria Airport's relatively low elevation of 308 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Maria 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.
- Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
- The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
- The forerunner of SATA Air Açores initiated services concurrently to São Miguel and Terceira from Santa Maria Airport on 5 August 1947, using a plane christened "Açor".
- The furthest airport from Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is Moruya Airport (MYA), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Maria Airport (meaning Santa Maria Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Moruya Airport), and is located 12,166 miles (19,579 kilometers) away in Moruya, New South Wales, Australia.
