Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Kerry Airport (KIR), Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,634 miles (or 5,849 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 Kerry 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 Kerry 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 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 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• Over the next four decades, the squadrons under the 363d TRW changed frequently.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• 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 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.
• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.

Facts about Kerry Airport (KIR):

• Kerry Airport was incorporated as a public limited company in July 1968 with its main objective of building and managing an airport at Farranfore.
• Kerry Airport (KIR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Kerry Airport handled 272,799 passengers last year.
• Kerry Airport is located on the N23 approximately 60 miles from both Cork and Limerick.
• The airport is a public limited company but not quoted on any stock exchange.
• The closest airport to Kerry Airport (KIR) is Bantry Aerodrome (BYT), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) S of KIR.
• The furthest airport from Kerry Airport (KIR) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Kerry Airport (meaning Kerry Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,057 miles (19,403 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• In January 2011, it was announced that 20 of the airport's 65 staff would be made redundant due to a fall in passenger numbers following Ryanair's withdrawal from its PSO contract.
• An airport bus terminal opened in January 2006 which has hourly bus service to Cork, Limerick, Tralee and Killarney.
• On 25 August 1969 the first aircraft to land at Kerry Airport was piloted by Captain Milo Carr of the Department of Transport & Power.
• It was announced in February 2012, due to the codeshare agreement with Aer Lingus that the currently operated Dublin service with Aer Arann will be operated from 30 October 2012 under the brand Aer Lingus Regional.
• In addition to being known as "Kerry Airport", another name for KIR is "Aerfort Chiarraí".
• Because of Kerry Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Kerry 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.