Nonstop flight route between Hammerfest, Finnmark, Norway and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hammerfest Airport (HFT), Hammerfest, Finnmark, Norway and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,325 miles (or 6,960 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 Hammerfest 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 Hammerfest 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 Hammerfest Airport (HFT):

• The furthest airport from Hammerfest Airport (HFT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,456 miles (16,828 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Hammerfest Airport handled 120,503 passengers last year.
• DNL resumed the Hammerfest route in 1946, connecting the town to Tromsø, Vadsø and Kirkenes with a Junkers Ju 52.
• The first plans for serving Hammerfest with an airline route was launched in a government plan from 1933.
• Forty-two percent of the airport's traffic is generated from routes to Oslo and abroad, while twenty-nine percent is to Tromsø.
• The closest airport to Hammerfest Airport (HFT) is Hasvik Airport (HAA), which is located 38 miles (60 kilometers) WSW of HFT.
• Because of Hammerfest Airport's relatively low elevation of 262 feet, planes can take off or land at Hammerfest 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 main route at Hammerfest is Widerøe's service to Tromsø, which is operated up to eight times per day using Dash 8-100 aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Hammerfest Airport", another name for HFT is "Hammerfest lufthavn".

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• As a result of the August 1992 destruction of Homestead AFB Florida by Hurricane Andrew in September 1992, the 31st Fighter Wing's 309th Fighter Squadron was initially evacuated to Shaw AFB prior to the hurricane making landfall.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• 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.
• Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.
• The 66th TRW was formed at Shaw from the RB-26 assets of the 18th TRS and RF-80s transferred from South Korea.