Nonstop flight route between Akrotiri, Cyprus and Shelton, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Akrotiri (AKT), Akrotiri, Cyprus and Sanderson Field (SHN), Shelton, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,593 miles (or 10,610 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 Sanderson Field, 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 Sanderson Field. 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):

• The U-2s of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing were used in Operation Cedar Sweep to fly surveillance over Lebanon, relaying information about Hezbollah militants to Lebanese authorities, and in Operation Highland Warrior to fly surveillance over Turkey and northern Iraq to relay information to Turkish authorities.
• In August 1970 a detachment of "G" of the Central Intelligence Agency arrived at the airfield with U-2 aircraft to monitor the Egypt/Israel Suez Canal fighting and cease fire.
• In addition to being known as "RAF Akrotiri", another name for AKT is ""Aki"".
• Akrotiri has played a crucial role during Britain's recent operations in the Middle East.
• The station commander is double-hatted and is also the officer commanding the Akrotiri or Western Sovereign Base Area, reporting to the commander of British Forces Cyprus who is also the Administrator.
• The closest airport to RAF Akrotiri (AKT) is Paphos International Airport (PFO), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) WNW of AKT.
• 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.
• 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.
• A constant problem of airfields located outside the territory of the country whose forces are based there is that of overflight rights.

Facts about Sanderson Field (SHN):

• Because of Sanderson Field's relatively low elevation of 273 feet, planes can take off or land at Sanderson Field 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 closest airport to Sanderson Field (SHN) is Olympia Regional Airport (OLM), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) SSE of SHN.
• Sanderson Field covers an area of 1,054 acres at an elevation of 273 feet above mean sea level.
• Sanderson Field (SHN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sanderson Field (SHN) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,810 miles (17,397 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.