Nonstop flight route between Niuafo'ou, Tonga and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mata'aho Airport (NFO), Niuafo'ou, Tonga and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,104 miles (or 11,433 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 Mata'aho 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 Mata'aho 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 Mata'aho Airport (NFO):

• The closest airport to Mata'aho Airport (NFO) is Wallis Island (WLS), which is located 164 miles (263 kilometers) NNW of NFO.
• The furthest airport from Mata'aho Airport (NFO) is Tahoua Airport (THZ), which is nearly antipodal to Mata'aho Airport (meaning Mata'aho Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tahoua Airport), and is located 12,360 miles (19,892 kilometers) away in Tahoua, Niger.

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• The 66th TRW was formed at Shaw from the RB-26 assets of the 18th TRS and RF-80s transferred from South Korea.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• In addition to the 363d TRW, Headquarters Ninth Air Force was transferred to Shaw from Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina on 1 September 1954.
• 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.
• Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command on 23 March 1946.
• In October 1942, the flight training was changed to Advanced flying training and AT-6 Texan single-engine and Beech AT-10 twin-engine trainers were used.
• On 9 August 1990, the 17th and 33d TFS of 363d TFW became the first F-16 squadrons to deploy to the United Arab Emirates in Operation Desert Shield.