Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Geneva, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Geneva International Airport (GVA), Geneva, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,425 miles (or 7,121 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 Geneva 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 Geneva 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• On 23 September 1949 the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was transferred to the 20th from the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Langley AFB Virginia.
• As a result of the August 1992 destruction of Homestead AFB Florida by Hurricane Andrew in September 1992, the 31st Fighter Wing's 309th Fighter Squadron was initially evacuated to Shaw AFB prior to the hurricane making landfall.
• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• The 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• 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.

Facts about Geneva International Airport (GVA):

• A new terminal project named 'Aile Est' starting in 2012, will modernize and extend Pier C following a complete reconstruction.
• The furthest airport from Geneva International Airport (GVA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Geneva International Airport (meaning Geneva International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,227 miles (19,678 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Geneva airport was created in 1919 as a simple field in Cointrin, near the city of Geneva.
• Geneva International Airport has extensive convention facilities and hosts an office of the International Air Transport Association and used to host the world headquarters of Airports Council International.
• In addition to being known as "Geneva International Airport", another name for GVA is "Aéroport international de GenèveGenève aéroport".
• The closest airport to Geneva International Airport (GVA) is Annemasse Aerodrome (QNJ), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) ESE of GVA.
• Geneva International Airport handled 14,436,000 passengers last year.
• Geneva International Airport (GVA) has 2 runways.
• During World War II the Swiss authorities forbade all flights from Switzerland.