Nonstop flight route between Aalesund, Norway and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES), Aalesund, Norway and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,060 miles (or 6,534 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra and Shaw Air Force Base, 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra and Shaw Air Force Base. 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 Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES):

• Because of Ålesund Airport, Vigra's relatively low elevation of 70 feet, planes can take off or land at Ålesund Airport, Vigra 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.
• Ålesund Airport, Vigra handled 1,077,209 passengers last year.
• Scheduled services are offered by Norwegian, Scandinavian Airlines, KLM, airBaltic and WizzAir.
• In addition to being known as "Ålesund Airport, Vigra", another name for AES is "Ålesund lufthavn, Vigra".
• The furthest airport from Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,147 miles (17,940 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The current terminal was opened along with an extended runway in 1986, along with new underwater road tunnels to the main city of Ålesund.
• Color Air to Oslo-Gardermoen
• Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) currently has only 1 runway.
• Before 1998, the airport was served by one airline, Braathens SAFE, at times with regional routes being by Norwegian Air Shuttle on behalf of Braathens.
• The closest airport to Ålesund Airport, Vigra (AES) is Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden (HOV), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) S of AES.
• Krohn Air to Trondheim-Værnes

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• The 20th FG was reassigned to Langley AFB, Virginia on 1 December 1951 in preparation for a permanent overseas deployment to RAF Wethersfield, England to support NATO.
• On 1 April 1945 jurisdiction of Shaw Field was transferred to First Air Force.
• Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command on 23 March 1946.
• The 20th Fighter Group was first equipped with North American P-51D, then exchanged its P-51's in February 1948 for F-84B Thunderjets, the first TAC group to receive operational F-84s.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• The furthest airport from Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,545 miles (18,580 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• After the establishment of the United States Air Force as a separate military branch in September 1947, Shaw Army Airfield was renamed Shaw Air Force Base, on 13 January 1948 and the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing was activated on 15 August 1947 with the implementation of the Hobson Plan.
• In October 1942, the flight training was changed to Advanced flying training and AT-6 Texan single-engine and Beech AT-10 twin-engine trainers were used.