Nonstop flight route between Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada and Santa Maria, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT), Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada and Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,253 miles (or 5,235 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 Thunder Bay International 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 Thunder Bay International 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 Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT):

• In addition to being known as "Thunder Bay International Airport", another name for YQT is "Thunder Bay Airport".
• The closest airport to Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT) is Grand Marais/Cook County Airport (GRM), which is located 61 miles (99 kilometers) SW of YQT.
• Because of Thunder Bay International Airport's relatively low elevation of 654 feet, planes can take off or land at Thunder Bay 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.
• The furthest airport from Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,833 miles (17,435 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Before the two cities of Fort William and Port Arthur merged, it was called the Canadian Lakehead Airport.
• Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT) has 2 runways.
• Thunder Bay International Airport handled 761,000 passengers last year.

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.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• 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.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.
• Transportes Aéreos Portugueses began lay-over flights to this airport on 7 December 1962, eventually inaugurating trans-Atlantic service between Santa Maria-New York and Santa Maria-Montreal.
• 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.