Nonstop flight route between Fort Wainwright, Alaska, United States and Shimojishima, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wainwright Airport (AIN), Fort Wainwright, Alaska, United States and Shimojishima Airport (SHI), Shimojishima, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,260 miles (or 6,856 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 Wainwright Airport and Shimojishima 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 Wainwright Airport and Shimojishima 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 Wainwright Airport (AIN):

• In addition to being known as "Wainwright Airport", another name for AIN is "AWI".
• Wainwright Airport (AIN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was built in 1957 to support the Distant Early Warning Line Radar station at Wainwright.
• Wainwright Airport resides at elevation of 45 feet above mean sea level.
• The furthest airport from Wainwright Airport (AIN) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,348 miles (16,654 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• The closest airport to Wainwright Airport (AIN) is Atqasuk Edward Burnell Sr. Memorial Airport (ATK), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) E of AIN.
• Because of Wainwright Airport's relatively low elevation of 45 feet, planes can take off or land at Wainwright 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.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 3,547 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 3,770 enplanements in 2009, and 4,129 in 2010.
• Wainwright Airport is a public use airport located in Wainwright, a city in the North Slope Borough of the U.S.

Facts about Shimojishima Airport (SHI):

• Because of Shimojishima Airport's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Shimojishima 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.
• Shimojishima Airport (SHI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Shimojishima Airport (SHI) is Guaraní International Airport (AGT), which is nearly antipodal to Shimojishima Airport (meaning Shimojishima Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Guaraní International Airport), and is located 12,393 miles (19,945 kilometers) away in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.
• As of early 2013, serious consideration was being given to basing a detachment of JASDF F-15J fighters out of the Airport, in order to provide better air defense coverage over the Senkaku Islands.
• The closest airport to Shimojishima Airport (SHI) is Miyako Airport (MMY), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) ESE of SHI.
• In 2004, there were some protests over the use of the airport as a refueling stop by USMC helicopters returning from an exercise in the Philippines.
• In addition to being known as "Shimojishima Airport", other names for SHI include "下地島空港" and "Shimojishima Kūkō".
• Shimojishima Airport ) is located on the island of Shimojishima in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.