Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Beja, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Beja Airport (BYJ), Beja, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,958 miles (or 6,369 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 Beja 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 Beja 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):

• 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 20th FG was reassigned to Langley AFB, Virginia on 1 December 1951 in preparation for a permanent overseas deployment to RAF Wethersfield, England to support NATO.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 363d TFW received its first F-16 on 26 March 1982.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.

Facts about Beja Airport (BYJ):

• The closest airport to Beja Airport (BYJ) is Portimão Airport (PRM), which is located 73 miles (118 kilometers) SSW of BYJ.
• In addition to being known as "Beja Airport", another name for BYJ is "Aeroporto de Beja".
• In 2011 a new civilian terminal was built and Beja became a dual-use military-civilian airport, aiming to attract low cost carriers.
• Beja Airport (BYJ) has 2 runways.
• Because of Beja Airport's relatively low elevation of 636 feet, planes can take off or land at Beja 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 furthest airport from Beja Airport (BYJ) is New Plymouth Airport (NPL), which is nearly antipodal to Beja Airport (meaning Beja Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from New Plymouth Airport), and is located 12,306 miles (19,804 kilometers) away in New Plymouth, New Zealand.
• In spite of being the only Portuguese airport in Alentejo—the biggest Portuguese region, with an area comparable to the size of Belgium—the airport failed to attract the attention of low-cost carriers and has never had any scheduled regular flights.
• Beja Airport is an unused Portuguese airport that opened doors to civilian flights on April 15, 2011.