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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Lausanne Airport (QLS), Lausanne, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,439 miles (or 7,143 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 Lausanne 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 Lausanne 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 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.
• Shaw Air Force Base is named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw.
• It is one of the largest military bases operated by the United States, and is one of only two air bases in CONUS with an active railroad line.
• 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.
• On 23 September 1949 the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was transferred to the 20th from the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Langley AFB Virginia.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.

Facts about Lausanne Airport (QLS):

• In addition to being known as "Lausanne Airport", another name for QLS is "Aéroport de Lausanne-Blécherette".
• The closest airport to Lausanne Airport (QLS) is Annemasse Aerodrome (QNJ), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) SW of QLS.
• The furthest airport from Lausanne Airport (QLS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Lausanne Airport (meaning Lausanne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,196 miles (19,627 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Lausanne Airport (QLS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In May 2000 the grass runway was replaced by a paved one.