Nonstop flight route between Boca Raton, Florida, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Boca Raton Airport (BCT), Boca Raton, Florida, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,397 miles (or 8,686 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 Boca Raton 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 Boca Raton 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 Boca Raton Airport (BCT):

• Boca Raton Airport (BCT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport operated without a control tower until 2000 when the current control tower opened.
• The Boca Raton Airport, also known as Boca Raton Army Airfield, was selected to house a military airfield for a number of geographic and practical reasons.
• Because of Boca Raton Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Boca Raton 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 military inactivated the Boca Raton Army Air Field in 1946 and in the 1950s part of the air base was used for a Cold War biological weapons program before the property was developed into Florida Atlantic University.
• The closest airport to Boca Raton Airport (BCT) is Pompano Beach Airpark (PPM), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) S of BCT.
• The furthest airport from Boca Raton Airport (BCT) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,588 miles (18,649 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• In August 1988, at least one Aries rocket was launched, relating to the Queen Match program, for anti-ballistic missile testing.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.