Nonstop flight route between Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lethbridge Airport (YQL), Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,238 miles (or 6,820 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 Lethbridge 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 Lethbridge 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 Lethbridge Airport (YQL):

• The closest airport to Lethbridge Airport (YQL) is Pincher Creek Airport (WPC), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) W of YQL.
• On 26 July 2009, the Evergreen Supertanker successfully landed and took off from runway 05 as part of the 2009 airshow, marking the first time a Boeing 747 has used this airport.
• On 23 July 2010, a Canadian Air Force McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet crashed during a practice run for the upcoming Alberta International Airshow.
• At the outbreak of World War II, Kenyon Field became a training facility under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
• Lethbridge Airport (YQL) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Lethbridge Airport (YQL) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,420 miles (16,770 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The RCAF left Lethbridge in 1944.
• Originally known as Kenyon Field, this aerodrome began passenger services in October 1938, but officially opened in June 1939.

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• 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 airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• For a while, Air France's supersonic Concordes were routed to Santa Maria on refueling layovers between Paris and Caracas.
• 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.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.