Nonstop flight route between Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ashgabat International Airport (ASB), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,086 miles (or 8,185 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 Ashgabat International 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 Ashgabat International 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 Ashgabat International Airport (ASB):

• Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) is Bojnord Airport (BJB), which is located 67 miles (108 kilometers) WSW of ASB.
• The airport, with its air traffic control tower and a 12,000-foot long precision approach runway, opened in 1994 and was named after the country's first president, Saparmyrat Niyazov.
• In addition to being known as "Ashgabat International Airport", another name for ASB is "Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy halkara aeroporty".
• The airport includes passenger waiting rooms, service passport, customs, border control, a 24-hour reference service, VIP and CIP rooms, a business club, a ticket office, shops, bars, fast-food outlets, currency exchange, a new baggage handling conveyor system, international telephone, a mother and child room and the offices of the airlines.
• The furthest airport from Ashgabat International Airport (ASB) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,407 miles (18,357 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• In Soviet times, the airport was used exclusively for domestic flights.
• Because of Ashgabat International Airport's relatively low elevation of 692 feet, planes can take off or land at Ashgabat International 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.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• In 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• After the disastrous attack, the focus of Eleventh Air Force was shifted to a defensive posture in the event of retaliatory attacks from the Japanese.
• Jurisdiction of Shemya AFB was transferred from the Aerospace Defense Command to the Strategic Air Command when the former was inactivated on 1 October 1979.
• On 28 May 1943, a small detachment of Alaskan Scouts began reconnaissance of Shemya, a small, flat, uninhabited island 35 miles to the east of Attu.
• 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.
• 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.