Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,523 miles (or 5,670 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 Shaw Air Force Base and Ted Stevens Anchorage International 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 Shaw Air Force Base and Ted Stevens Anchorage International 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 Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• Shaw Air Force Base is named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw.
• 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.
• The 66th TRW was formed at Shaw from the RB-26 assets of the 18th TRS and RF-80s transferred from South Korea.
• The 363rd Fighter Wing was inactivated at Shaw AFB on 31 December 1993, and the next day, 1 January 1994, the 20th Fighter Wing inactivated at RAF Upper Heyford and reactivated without personnel or equipment at Shaw AFB, returning to the base it had left for duty with NATO forty-one years earlier.
• 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.
• The group initially conducted training with two squadrons flying the Republic RF-84F "Thunderflash" and two squadrons Group, was a part of Strategic Air Command from July 1947 – May 1951, at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana as an Air Force Reserve corollary unit under the guidance of active duty units in order to train and maintain currency in reconnaissance operations for its reserve personnel.
• The squadrons flew the P-61 Black Widow in Europe with Ninth Air Force during World War II, and were reassigned back to the United States after the end of hostilities.

Facts about Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC):

• Because of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport's relatively low elevation of 152 feet, planes can take off or land at Ted Stevens Anchorage International 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.
• Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) has 3 runways.
• Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport handled 4,976,557 passengers last year.
• Anchorage is also envisioned as a future connecting point for air traffic to the Russian Far East.
• The furthest airport from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,548 miles (16,975 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 2,599,313 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 2,282,666 enplanements in 2009, and 2,342,310 in 2010.
• The closest airport to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) ENE of ANC.
• Renovations began on the A and B concourses in fall 2006.
• FedEx Express and UPS Airlines operate major hubs at Anchorage International for cargo heading to and from the Far East.NWA Cargo used to operate a major hub at the airport until December 28, 2009 when it closed all operations for Northwest Cargo at all airports.
• A shuttle bus runs approximately every 15 minutes between the North and South terminals and the employee and long-term parking lots.
• The South Terminal serves Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Condor, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, Sun Country, United Airlines, US Airways and Virgin America.
• Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport's passenger traffic has hovered around the five million mark for the last 10 years, apart from in 2002 when the airport suffered a 13% drop in traffic.