Nonstop flight route between Arorae Island, Kiribati and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Arorae Island Airport (AIS), Arorae Island, Kiribati and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,826 miles (or 6,157 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 Arorae Island Airport and Eareckson Air Station, 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 Arorae Island Airport and Eareckson Air Station. 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 Arorae Island Airport (AIS):

• The closest airport to Arorae Island Airport (AIS) is Beru Island Airport (BEZ), which is located 103 miles (166 kilometers) NNW of AIS.
• Because of Arorae Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Arorae Island 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.
• The furthest airport from Arorae Island Airport (AIS) is Takoradi Airport (TKD), which is nearly antipodal to Arorae Island Airport (meaning Arorae Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Takoradi Airport), and is located 12,251 miles (19,716 kilometers) away in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• The furthest airport from Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,668 miles (17,168 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.
• The station was also used by SAC Cobra Ball and other related projects which monitored missile-associated signals and tracks missiles during boost and re-entry phases to provide reconnaissance for treaty verification and theater ballistic missile proliferation.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• Because of Eareckson Air Station's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at Eareckson Air Station 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
• In August, after the Soviet Union declared war against the Japanese Empire, B-24s were dispatched on reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions to observe the Russian activity in the Kuriles.
• There is also an NDB, TACAN and a VOR on the island.
• The mission of Eleventh Air Force was to take advantage of the new airfields on Shemya and Attu, and carry out offensive operations against the enemy forces in the Kuriles.