Nonstop flight route between Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Iqaluit Airport (YFB), Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,572 miles (or 4,140 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 Iqaluit 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 Iqaluit 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Iqaluit Airport (YFB):

• Through the 1960s, Nordair was the main airline serving Frobisher Bay from Montreal, 1,100 nautical miles to the south.
• There is a persistent but false rumour that Iqaluit Airport is one of the emergency landing sites for NASA's Space Shuttle, due to the length of its runway and its geographic location.
• Iqaluit Airport was originally founded as Frobisher Bay Air Base in 1942.
• Because of Iqaluit Airport's relatively low elevation of 110 feet, planes can take off or land at Iqaluit 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 Iqaluit Airport (YFB) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 10,428 miles (16,782 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• Iqaluit Airport serves Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada and is located adjacent to the town.
• The closest airport to Iqaluit Airport (YFB) is Kimmirut Airport (YLC), which is located 75 miles (121 kilometers) SSW of YFB.
• Iqaluit Airport (YFB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport serves as a diversion airport on Polar routes.

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• Santa Maria Airport is an airport located 5 km west northwest of the urbanized area of Vila do Porto on the Portuguese island of Santa Maria, in the autonomous region of the Azores.
• 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".
• It was built in the context of the Second World War, by US troops in order to maintain supply lines to Europe, and inaugurated on 26 July 1945.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• 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 (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.