Nonstop flight route between Bern, Switzerland and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bern Airport (BRN), Bern, Switzerland and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,508 miles (or 8,865 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 Bern 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 Bern 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 Bern Airport (BRN):

• A base of the air rescue organization Rega is located at the Airport, using a Eurocopter EC 145.
• Bern Airport (BRN) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Bern Airport (BRN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Bern Airport (meaning Bern Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,149 miles (19,552 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The existing terminal was expanded to better accommodate flights to the Non-Schengen area in 2011.
• In addition to being known as "Bern Airport", other names for BRN include "Regionalflugplatz Bern-Belp" and "LSZB / LSMB".
• The closest airport to Bern Airport (BRN) is Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) ENE of BRN.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• Jurisdiction of Shemya AFB was transferred from the Aerospace Defense Command to the Strategic Air Command when the former was inactivated on 1 October 1979.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.