Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Hannover Airport (HAJ), Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,407 miles (or 7,093 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 Hannover 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 Hannover 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):

• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.
• After the establishment of the United States Air Force as a separate military branch in September 1947, Shaw Army Airfield was renamed Shaw Air Force Base, on 13 January 1948 and the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing was activated on 15 August 1947 with the implementation of the Hobson Plan.
• Shaw Air Force Base is named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw.
• 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 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.

Facts about Hannover Airport (HAJ):

• Hannover Airport is one of very few German airports which are open 24 hours a day, but in practice there are very few flights between 11pm and 4am.
• The closest airport to Hannover Airport (HAJ) is Celle Air Base (ZCN), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) ENE of HAJ.
• Hannover Airport (HAJ) has 3 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Hannover Airport", another name for HAJ is "Flughafen Hannover-Langenhagen".
• The furthest airport from Hannover Airport (HAJ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,776 miles (18,952 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• TUIfly, which maintains a base at Hannover Airport, has dramatically reduced services in 2008 and 2009, and passed all its non-traditional holiday routes to Air Berlin late in 2009.
• Because of Hannover Airport's relatively low elevation of 183 feet, planes can take off or land at Hannover 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.
• Hannover Airport has its own exit on motorway A352, which is a shortcut between the major motorways A2 and A7, relieving the often congested interchange Kreuz Hannover Ost.