Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Carcassonne, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Carcassonne Airport (CCF), Carcassonne, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,332 miles (or 6,972 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 Carcassonne 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 Carcassonne 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 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• 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.
• Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.
• Following Desert Storm, the 19th and 33d Tactical Fighter Squadrons deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch, a coalition effort to enforce the Iraqi "No Fly Zone" south of the 32nd parallel north.
• 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.

Facts about Carcassonne Airport (CCF):

• In addition to being known as "Carcassonne Airport", another name for CCF is "Aéroport de Carcassonne".
• The furthest airport from Carcassonne Airport (CCF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Carcassonne Airport (meaning Carcassonne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,363 miles (19,896 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Carcassonne Airport (CCF) has 2 runways.
• Because of Carcassonne Airport's relatively low elevation of 434 feet, planes can take off or land at Carcassonne 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.
• In the late 1990s the airport started taking budget flights to and from European airports and in 2006 had regular flight connections with Dublin, Shannon, Stansted, Liverpool, East Midlands and Charleroi.
• The closest airport to Carcassonne Airport (CCF) is Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) N of CCF.