Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Hammerfest, Finnmark, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Hammerfest Airport (HFT), Hammerfest, Finnmark, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,325 miles (or 6,960 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 Hammerfest 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 Hammerfest 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):

• 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.
• Shaw AFB is home base of the USAF 20th Fighter Wing, which flies F-16CJ Fighting Falcons.
• The 66th TRW was formed at Shaw from the RB-26 assets of the 18th TRS and RF-80s transferred from South Korea.
• 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.
• In October 1942, the flight training was changed to Advanced flying training and AT-6 Texan single-engine and Beech AT-10 twin-engine trainers were used.
• 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.
• Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.

Facts about Hammerfest Airport (HFT):

• In addition to being known as "Hammerfest Airport", another name for HFT is "Hammerfest lufthavn".
• Hammerfest Airport handled 120,503 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Hammerfest Airport (HFT) is Hasvik Airport (HAA), which is located 38 miles (60 kilometers) WSW of HFT.
• The mid-1960s saw several proposals for regional airports in Finnmark.
• The furthest airport from Hammerfest Airport (HFT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,456 miles (16,828 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The main route at Hammerfest is Widerøe's service to Tromsø, which is operated up to eight times per day using Dash 8-100 aircraft.
• The first plans for serving Hammerfest with an airline route was launched in a government plan from 1933.
• Because of Hammerfest Airport's relatively low elevation of 262 feet, planes can take off or land at Hammerfest 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.
• Avinor is considering building a new airport at Grøtnes, which would be built as reclaimed land 15 kilometers from Hammerfest.