Nonstop flight route between Emmen, Lucerne, Switzerland and West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), Emmen, Lucerne, Switzerland and Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE), West Columbia (near Columbia), South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,526 miles (or 7,284 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 Emmen Swiss Air Base and Columbia Metropolitan 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 Emmen Swiss Air Base and Columbia Metropolitan 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 Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML):

• In addition to being known as "Emmen Swiss Air Base", another name for EML is "Flugplatzkommando Emmen".
• The closest airport to Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML) is Zurich Airport (ZRH), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) NNE of EML.
• The furthest airport from Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Emmen Swiss Air Base (meaning Emmen Swiss Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,113 miles (19,495 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE):

• 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.
• In 1941 the airport came under formal military control and an immediate program began to turn the civil airport into a military airfield.
• 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.
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) has 2 runways.
• Columbia Metropolitan Airport handled 1,027,699 passengers last year.
• 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.
• In November 1982, Piedmont Airlines returned to Columbia with flights to Charlotte and later Newark.