Nonstop flight route between Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States and Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU), Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States and Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR), Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,276 miles (or 6,882 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 Svalbard Airport, Longyear, 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 Svalbard Airport, Longyear. 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):

• Fort Sumner Municipal Airport is a village owned, public use airport located two nautical miles northeast of the central business district of Fort Sumner, a village in De Baca County, New Mexico, United States.
• 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.
• Fort Sumner Municipal Airport covers an area of 960 acres at an elevation of 4,165 feet above mean sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Fort Sumner Municipal Airport", another name for FSU is "Fort Sumner Army Airfield".
• 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.
• In the 1980s, the airport was chosen as a launch site for NASA's high altitude balloon program.
• 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.
• The airport retains the large parking ramp from its training use.
• Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) has 2 runways.
• Current two operational balloon launch campaigns are conducted at the airport each year.

Facts about Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR):

• Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Svalbard Airport, Longyear's relatively low elevation of 94 feet, planes can take off or land at Svalbard Airport, Longyear 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 first night landing was made on 8 December 1965.
• The closest airport to Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) is Honningsvåg Airport, Valan (HVG), which is located 534 miles (859 kilometers) SSE of LYR.
• While the Catalina was suitable for postal flights, it was not suitable for a permanent solution for transporting passengers and freight, mainly due to its small size.
• Svalbard Airport, Longyear handled 126,350 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Svalbard Airport, Longyear (LYR) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,170 miles (16,367 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• In addition to being known as "Svalbard Airport, Longyear", another name for LYR is "Svalbard lufthavn, Longyear".
• The airport is located 1.6 nautical miles northwest of Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on Svalbard.