Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Yamagata, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Shonai Airport (SYO), Yamagata, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,695 miles (or 9,165 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 AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Shonai 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 AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 and Shonai 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 AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):

• The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
• Squadrons 15 and 40 converted from Battles to Bristol Blenheim bombers, but did not take part in bombing raids with the new type until the German Blitzkrieg was unleashed in May 1940.
• The group comprises six squadrons—security forces and civil engineer, air base, medical and services—and supports tenant units.
• The furthest airport from RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In 1937, Royal Air Force Bomber Command was drawing up plans for dispersal of their aircraft in the event of air raids on its stations.
• In May 1942, RAF Alconbury was allocated to the United States Eighth Air Force when a number of stations in East Anglia were turned over to the Americans after their entry into the war.

Facts about Shonai Airport (SYO):

• The furthest airport from Shonai Airport (SYO) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,620 miles (18,701 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• In December 2012, an ANA flight landing from Tokyo overran the runway at Shonai.
• Shonai Airport (SYO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Seiko Epson has also used the airport for weekly employee charter flights to and from Matsumoto since 1997.
• In addition to being known as "Shonai Airport", other names for SYO include "庄内空港" and "Shonai Kūkō".
• Because of Shonai Airport's relatively low elevation of 72 feet, planes can take off or land at Shonai 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 closest airport to Shonai Airport (SYO) is Yamagata Airport (GAJ), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) SE of SYO.