Nonstop flight route between Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada and Riga, Latvia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM), Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada and Riga International Airport (RIX), Riga, Latvia would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,198 miles (or 6,756 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 Sault Ste. Marie Airport and Riga International 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 Sault Ste. Marie Airport and Riga International 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 Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM):

• The Canadian government opened the airport in 1961 and operated it until 1998, when it handed control over to the newly formed Sault Ste.
• The furthest airport from Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,093 miles (17,853 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 2010, the airport ranked 34th among Canadian airports for total number of aircraft movements, with 51,279 movements.
• The closest airport to Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM) is Chippewa County International Airport (CIU), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) S of YAM.
• Because of Sault Ste. Marie Airport's relatively low elevation of 632 feet, planes can take off or land at Sault Ste. Marie 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.
• Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM) has 2 runways.

Facts about Riga International Airport (RIX):

• Because of Riga International Airport's relatively low elevation of 36 feet, planes can take off or land at Riga International 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.
• Riga International Airport (RIX) currently has only 1 runway.
• As the Latvian government may be backing out of the state-financed plan to build the 20 million passenger capable terminal, airBaltic is now planning, by 2014, to build for its own exclusive use a second terminal which can handle 40 planes and 5000 passengers per hour, equivalent to about 7.5 million passengers per year, located next to the current terminal, while leaving the current terminal for all other airlines to use.
• Renovation and modernization of the airport was completed in 2001, coinciding with the 800th anniversary of the founding of the city.
• In 2006, the new north terminal extension was opened.
• In addition to being known as "Riga International Airport", another name for RIX is "Starptautiskā lidosta “Rīga”".
• The closest airport to Riga International Airport (RIX) is Šiauliai International Airport (SQQ), which is located 74 miles (120 kilometers) SSW of RIX.
• The furthest airport from Riga International Airport (RIX) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,169 miles (17,975 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.