Nonstop flight route between Mangere, New Zealand and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Auckland Airport (AKL), Mangere, New Zealand and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,313 miles (or 13,379 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 Auckland Airport 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 Auckland Airport 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 Auckland Airport (AKL):

• Auckland Airport is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand with 14,829,393 passengers in the year ended November 2013.
• On 8 July 2010, AIAL announced it had entered into an agreement to take a 24.99% shareholding in Queenstown Airport Corporation Limited, the operator of Queenstown Airport, and form a strategic alliance between the two airports.
• The closest airport to Auckland Airport (AKL) is Ardmore Airport (AMZ), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of AKL.
• Auckland International Airport Limited was formed in 1988, when the New Zealand Government corporatised the airport.
• Auckland Airport (AKL) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Auckland Airport (AKL) is Málaga Airport (AGP), which is nearly antipodal to Auckland Airport (meaning Auckland Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Málaga Airport), and is located 12,391 miles (19,942 kilometers) away in Málaga, Spain.
• Because of Auckland Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Auckland 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.
• A new international terminal, named after Jean Batten, was built in 1977.
• Auckland Airport handled 14,829,393 passengers last year.
• Auckland Airport decided that rather than building a new sub-top level to stream arriving passengers, they would build a new departures floor for passengers to "drop down" into the existing gate lounges on the first floor, which would be closed off from a central arrivals corridor by glass.
• Jetstar domestic services operate from gates 20, 21, and 22.

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 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.
• Over the next four decades, the squadrons under the 363d TRW changed frequently.
• With the closure of Myrtle Beach Air Force Base South Carolina and the inactivation of the 354th Fighter Wing, the 21st Tactical Fighter Squadron was activated at Shaw and received 30 Republic A/OA-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the inactivating 355th Fighter Squadron on 1 April 1992.
• 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.
• 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.
• Shaw Air Force Base is a United States Military facility located approximately 8.4 miles west-northwest of Sumter, South Carolina.
• Shaw Army Airfield was designated a permanent Army Air Forces instantiation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945.