Nonstop flight route between Akrotiri, Cyprus and Shirahama, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Akrotiri (AKT), Akrotiri, Cyprus and Nanki-Shirahama Airport (SHM), Shirahama, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,551 miles (or 8,933 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 RAF Akrotiri and Nanki-Shirahama 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 RAF Akrotiri and Nanki-Shirahama 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 RAF Akrotiri (AKT):

• In addition to being known as "RAF Akrotiri", another name for AKT is ""Aki"".
• A constant problem of airfields located outside the territory of the country whose forces are based there is that of overflight rights.
• Akrotiri, along with Nicosia, assumed a very important status, as virtually the sole means for projecting British airpower into the eastern Mediterranean, outside of aircraft carriers.
• Due to the station's relative proximity to the Middle East, it is often used by British allies when needed, such as for casualty reception for Americans after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing and as a staging post before heading into theatres of combat in the Middle East/Persian Gulf theaters.
• The closest airport to RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Paphos International Airport (PFO), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) WNW of AKT.
• Akrotiri is also the winter training grounds of the RAF display team, the Red Arrows.
• The furthest airport from RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,556 miles (18,598 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.

Facts about Nanki-Shirahama Airport (SHM):

• Nanki-Shirahama Airport (SHM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Nanki-Shirahama Airport (SHM) is Diomício Freitas/Forquilhinha Airport (CCM), which is located 11,994 miles (19,302 kilometers) away in Criciúma, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Nanki-Shirahama Airport", other names for SHM include "南紀白浜空港" and "Nanki Shirahama Kūkō".
• The closest airport to Nanki-Shirahama Airport (SHM) is Kansai International Airport (KIX), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) N of SHM.
• Because of Nanki-Shirahama Airport's relatively low elevation of 293 feet, planes can take off or land at Nanki-Shirahama 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.