Nonstop flight route between Biak, Indonesia and Spokane, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK), Biak, Indonesia and Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA), Spokane, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,031 miles (or 11,315 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base, 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base. 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK):

• The closest airport to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Kornasoren Airport (FOO), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) WNW of BIK.
• With the advent of jet airliners such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, the airport went through another modernization to start accommodating them.
• Mokmer Airfield was part of a complex of airfields built on Biak Island by the Japanese, of which Mokmer was the main USAAF facility after the island was taken by the United States after fierce fighting in late May and June 1944.
• Frans Kaisiepo Airport handled 366 passengers last year.
• As World War II started in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan started occupying Irian Jaya in 1942.
• Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical) (SLZ), which is nearly antipodal to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (meaning Frans Kaisiepo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical)), and is located 12,175 miles (19,593 kilometers) away in São Luís, Brazil.
• Because of Frans Kaisiepo Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Frans Kaisiepo 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.
• On 1 May 1963, the airport was given over once again from UNTEA to the government of Indonesia.
• In addition to being known as "Frans Kaisiepo Airport", another name for BIK is "Bandara Frans Kaisiepo".

Facts about Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA):

• Over 5,100 active duty Air Force, Air National Guard, and tenant organization military and civilian employees work on Fairchild, making the base the largest employer in Eastern Washington.
• The closest airport to Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Spokane International Airport (GEG), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) E of SKA.
• In 1956 the wing began a conversion that brought the B-52 Stratofortress to Fairchild, followed by the KC-135 Stratotanker in 1958.
• On 20 June 1994, Dean Mellberg, an ex-Air Force member, entered the base hospital and shot and killed four people and wounded 23 others.
• The host unit at Fairchild is the 92d Air Refueling Wing assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force.
• The furthest airport from Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,665 miles (17,163 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In addition to being known as "Fairchild Air Force Base", another name for SKA is "Fairchild AFB".
• In June 1992, with the inactivation of Strategic Air Command, the B-52 portion of the wing became part of the newly established Air Combat Command and was re-designated the 92d Bomb Wing.