Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and near Kralendijk, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Flamingo International Airport (BON), near Kralendijk, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,693 miles (or 2,725 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 relatively short distance between Shaw Air Force Base and Flamingo International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• 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 1 April 1951, the 363d TRW was transferred to Shaw from Langley Air Force Base, Virginia The 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing would remain at Shaw, under various designations, for the next 43 years.
• 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.
• On 1 April 1945 jurisdiction of Shaw Field was transferred to First Air Force.
• 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.
• Shaw Army Airfield was designated a permanent Army Air Forces instantiation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945.
• 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 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.

Facts about Flamingo International Airport (BON):

• The Dutch national carrier, KLM, used the airport to refuel planes en route from Amsterdam to Ecuador using MD-11 between 2000 and 2011.
• The furthest airport from Flamingo International Airport (BON) is Abdul Rachman Saleh Airport (MLG), which is nearly antipodal to Flamingo International Airport (meaning Flamingo International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Abdul Rachman Saleh Airport), and is located 12,139 miles (19,535 kilometers) away in Malang, East Java, Indonesia.
• In October 2008, Bonaire introduced the new CUTE system from SITA.
• In addition to being known as "Flamingo International Airport", another name for BON is "Bonaire International Airport".
• The management of the airport is drawing up a master plan to comply with international requirements.
• Flamingo Airport is the third largest airport in the former Netherlands Antilles, behind St.Maarten's Princess Juliana International Airport and Curacao's Hato International Airport and is the fourth largest between the Caribbean islands of the Dutch Kingdom behind the already mentioned St.
• Flamingo International Airport handled 462,897 passengers last year.
• The first Bonaire-Miami flight took place on April 19, 1980, possible since the runway extension of that year.
• Flamingo International Airport (BON) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Flamingo International Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Flamingo 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.
• The closest airport to Flamingo International Airport (BON) is Hato International Airport Curaçao International Airport (CUR), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) W of BON.
• The Flamingo Airport is large enough to accommodate most international wide-body airliners such as the Boeing 747, the Boeing 777, and the Airbus A340, although the largest wide-body type to operate to Bonaire today is the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, flown by KLM.
• The construction work for this airport began on September 23, 1935.