Nonstop flight route between Watertown, South Dakota, United States and Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Watertown Regional Airport (ATY), Watertown, South Dakota, United States and Saipan International Airport (SPN), Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,724 miles (or 10,822 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 Watertown Regional Airport and Saipan International 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 Watertown Regional Airport and Saipan International 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 Watertown Regional Airport (ATY):

• In addition to being known as "Watertown Regional Airport", another name for ATY is "Watertown Army Airfield".
• Watertown Regional Airport (ATY) has 2 runways.
• B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator units underwent advanced training before going overseas.
• The furthest airport from Watertown Regional Airport (ATY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,571 miles (17,013 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Watertown Regional Airport (ATY) is Brookings Regional Airport (BKX), which is located 45 miles (73 kilometers) SSE of ATY.
• Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 4,975 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 5,824 in 2009 and 7,814 in 2010.

Facts about Saipan International Airport (SPN):

• Saipan International Airport (SPN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Tinian International Airport (TIQ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SW of SPN.
• With the end of the war the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for scrapping, or were flown to storage facilities in Texas or Arizona.
• Because of Saipan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Saipan 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.
• Once in American hands, Isely Field was expanded considerably to support Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortress operations.
• A Star Marianas plane crashed during takeoff on November 17, 2012 on its return from Tinian.
• In addition to being known as "Saipan International Airport", other names for SPN include "Francisco C. Ada Airport" and "GSN".
• Saipan International Airport covers an area of 734 acres which contains one paved runway measuring 8,700 x 200 ft.
• The furthest airport from Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Saipan International Airport (meaning Saipan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,125 miles (19,514 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.