Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Kunming, Yunnan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG), Kunming, Yunnan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,349 miles (or 13,436 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 Kunming Changshui 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 Kunming Changshui 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 363d TFW received its first F-16 on 26 March 1982.
• The group initially conducted training with two squadrons flying the Republic RF-84F "Thunderflash" and two squadrons Group, was a part of Strategic Air Command from July 1947 – May 1951, at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana as an Air Force Reserve corollary unit under the guidance of active duty units in order to train and maintain currency in reconnaissance operations for its reserve personnel.
• 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.
• 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 Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG):

• In addition to being known as "Kunming Changshui International Airport", other names for KMG include "昆明长水国际机场" and "Kūnmíng Chángshuǐ Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Because of Kunming Changshui International Airport's high elevation of 6,900 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at KMG. Combined with a high temperature, this could make KMG a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG) is Chañaral Airport (CNR), which is nearly antipodal to Kunming Changshui International Airport (meaning Kunming Changshui International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chañaral Airport), and is located 12,026 miles (19,353 kilometers) away in Chañaral, Atacama Region, Chile.
• The main 548,300 m2 terminal of Changshui Airport is the second largest terminal building in China.
• The closest airport to Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG) is Wenshan Puzhehei Airport (WNH), which is located 138 miles (222 kilometers) SE of KMG.
• The airport is the terminus of Line 6 of the Kunming Metro, which opened on the same day as the airport.