Nonstop flight route between Aiyura, Papua New Guinea and Shemya, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from AYU to SYA:
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- About this route
- AYU Airport Information
- SYA Airport Information
- Facts about AYU
- Facts about SYA
- Map of Nearest Airports to AYU
- List of Nearest Airports to AYU
- Map of Furthest Airports from AYU
- List of Furthest Airports from AYU
- Map of Nearest Airports to SYA
- List of Nearest Airports to SYA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SYA
- List of Furthest Airports from SYA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Aiyura Airport (AYU), Aiyura, Papua New Guinea and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,403 miles (or 7,085 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 Aiyura 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 Aiyura 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | AYU / AYAY |
Airport Name: | Aiyura Airport |
Location: | Aiyura, Papua New Guinea |
GPS Coordinates: | 6°20'16"S by 145°54'14"E |
Elevation: | 5100 feet (1,554 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from AYU |
More Information: | AYU Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SYA / PASY |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Shemya, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 52°42'43"N by 174°6'48"E |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 97 feet (30 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SYA |
More Information: | SYA Maps & Info |
Facts about Aiyura Airport (AYU):
- Because of Aiyura Airport's high elevation of 5,100 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at AYU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make AYU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Aiyura Airport (AYU) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Aiyura Airport (AYU) is Gusap Airport (GAP), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) N of AYU.
- The furthest airport from Aiyura Airport (AYU) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,723 miles (18,867 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):
- 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.
- Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
- 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.
- With the successful completion of the Aleutian Campaign in August 1943, Eleventh Air Force came within striking distance of the Japanese Kurile Islands, the northernmost being 750 miles to the south-southwest of Shemya.
- By the end of 1944, several hundred American airmen had been interned by the Russians after their crippled aircraft landed on Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
- 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.
- On 27 January 1992 the 5073rd Air Base Group located at Shemya AFB was re-designated as the Pacific Air Forces Eleventh Air Force 673d Air Base Group.
- 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.
- Eareckson Air Station is located on the western tip of Alaska's Aleutian islands near the larger island of Attu, and is located approximately 1500 miles southwest of Anchorage.
- Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
- In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and " ".