Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Bălţi, Moldova:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport (BZY), Bălţi, Moldova would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,259 miles (or 8,464 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 Bălți-Leadoveni 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 Bălți-Leadoveni 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 Field was activated on 30 August 1941 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps Southeast Air Corps Training Center.
• On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.
• On 25 June 1953, the 66th TRW departed Shaw, being reassigned to Sembach Air Base, West Germany.
• 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 closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• 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.
• Shaw Army Airfield was designated a permanent Army Air Forces instantiation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945.

Facts about Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport (BZY):

• As Moldova was experiencing economic crisis in the 1990s, the re-construction and modernization plans of the airport, as well as the whole aviation industry, were put on hold.
• Bălți International Airport can be easily accessed by car, exiting Bălți in the northern direction, and following the highway E583.
• Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport (BZY) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport", another name for BZY is "Aeroportul Internațional Leadoveni".
• The furthest airport from Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport (BZY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,243 miles (18,093 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Bălți International Airport is currently used mainly by irregular charter passenger, and more often by cargo flights.
• For cargo, different modifications of Antonov jets have used the runway.
• Because of Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport's relatively low elevation of 758 feet, planes can take off or land at Bălți-Leadoveni 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 Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport (BZY) is Iași International Airport (IAS), which is located 46 miles (75 kilometers) S of BZY.