Nonstop flight route between Lourdes, France and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (LDE), Lourdes, France and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,225 miles (or 6,800 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 Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées 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 Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées 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 Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (LDE):

• The furthest airport from Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (LDE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (meaning Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,254 miles (19,721 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (LDE) is Pau Pyrénées Airport (PUF), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) WNW of LDE.
• Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (LDE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport", another name for LDE is "Aéroport de Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées".
• Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport is a small regional airport located 9 km south-southwest of Tarbes and near Lourdes, both communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées département in France.
• Over 70% of the airport traffic is charter flight from a variety of airlines across Europe journeying to the nearby Lourdes as part of a Catholic pilgrimage.

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• Shaw Air Force Base is named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw.
• 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.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• The 20th Fighter Group was first equipped with North American P-51D, then exchanged its P-51's in February 1948 for F-84B Thunderjets, the first TAC group to receive operational F-84s.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.