Nonstop flight route between West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States and Flores Island, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE), West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States and Flores Airport (FLW), Flores Island, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,760 miles (or 4,442 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 Columbia Metropolitan Airport and Flores 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 Columbia Metropolitan Airport and Flores 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 Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE):

• Training at Columbia Army Air Base was phased down during the summer of 1945.
• The airport is a hub for UPS Airlines and was a hub for Air South, a former low-cost carrier.
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) has 2 runways.
• In August 1996, the UPS-owned cargo airline opened an $80 million southeastern regional hub at the airport, one of six regional hubs throughout the United States.
• Because of Columbia Metropolitan Airport's relatively low elevation of 236 feet, planes can take off or land at Columbia Metropolitan 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 closest airport to Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is Jim Hamilton - L.B. Owens Airport (CUB), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ENE of CAE.
• One of the earliest units to train at Columbia AAB was the 17th Bombardment Group, which arrived on 9 February 1942.
• The furthest airport from Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,508 miles (18,520 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1941 the airport came under formal military control and an immediate program began to turn the civil airport into a military airfield.
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport handled 1,027,699 passengers last year.

Facts about Flores Airport (FLW):

• Along with the airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Horta, Vila do Porto, Ponta Delgada and Beja, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation was conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98.
• Flores Airport (FLW) currently has only 1 runway.
• Flores Airport handled 45,122 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Flores Airport", another name for FLW is "Aeroporto das Flores".
• The furthest airport from Flores Airport (FLW) is Flinders Island Airport (FLS), which is nearly antipodal to Flores Airport (meaning Flores Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flinders Island Airport), and is located 12,373 miles (19,912 kilometers) away in Flinders Island, Tasmania, Australia.
• The closest airport to Flores Airport (FLW) is Corvo Airport (CVU), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) N of FLW.
• Because of Flores Airport's relatively low elevation of 108 feet, planes can take off or land at Flores 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.
• But, it was only in 1972 that an airport was inaugurated on the island of Flores.