Nonstop flight route between Barcelonnette / Saint-Pons, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE), Barcelonnette / Saint-Pons, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,687 miles (or 9,152 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 Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons 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 Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons 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 Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE):

• In addition to being known as "Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport", another name for BAE is "Aéroport de Barcelonnette-Saint-Pons".
• Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (meaning Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,280 miles (19,762 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) is Cuneo International Airport (CUF), which is located 51 miles (82 kilometers) ENE of BAE.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• By August, Eleventh Air Force B-24s were carrying out successful and accurate attacks on the Japanese military installations and the B-25s were successful in driving the Japanese fishing and much of the shipping out of the North Pacific.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The 404th Bombardment Squadron flew B-24 Liberator heavy bombers along with one Beechcraft AT-7, which was used for navigator training.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• In 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities.
• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• 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.
• The station was also used by SAC Cobra Ball and other related projects which monitored missile-associated signals and tracks missiles during boost and re-entry phases to provide reconnaissance for treaty verification and theater ballistic missile proliferation.
• The news of the surrender of the Japanese was met with enthusiasm, the biggest topic was "When do we go home?".
• 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.
• The Korean War brought extensive use by the Military Air Transport Service for the logistical support of Korea and Japan.