Nonstop flight route between Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States and Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU), Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States and Sumburgh Airport (LSI), Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,601 miles (or 7,405 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 Fort Sumner Municipal Airport and Sumburgh 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 Fort Sumner Municipal Airport and Sumburgh 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 Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU):

• Current two operational balloon launch campaigns are conducted at the airport each year.
• The closest airport to Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) is Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) E of FSU.
• The furthest airport from Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,167 miles (17,971 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• For the 12-month period ending April 9, 2011, the airport had 150 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 12 per month.
• In addition to being known as "Fort Sumner Municipal Airport", another name for FSU is "Fort Sumner Army Airfield".
• Because of Fort Sumner Municipal Airport's high elevation of 4,165 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at FSU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make FSU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In the 1980s, the airport was chosen as a launch site for NASA's high altitude balloon program.
• The airfield's origins date to the 1920s when the Transcontinental Air Transport airline built an airfield in Fort Sumner as part of its coast-to-coast air passenger network, but the site was abandoned when the airline's ambitious plans collapsed in the Great Depression.
• Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) has 2 runways.
• On August 6, 1944, the airfield was transferred to Second Air Force, where it became a replacement facility for B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator crew training.

Facts about Sumburgh Airport (LSI):

• HIAL receives subsidies from the Scottish Ministers in accordance with Section 34 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and is sponsored by the Transport Directorate which is one of the Finance and Sustainable Growth Directorates of the Scottish Government.
• The furthest airport from Sumburgh Airport (LSI) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,442 miles (18,414 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Sumburgh Airport (LSI) is Tingwall Airport (LWK), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) N of LSI.
• Sumburgh Airport (LSI) has 2 runways.
• Because of Sumburgh Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Sumburgh 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.