Nonstop flight route between Bertoua, Cameroon and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bertoua Airport (BTA), Bertoua, Cameroon and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,318 miles (or 13,386 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 Bertoua 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 Bertoua 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 Bertoua Airport (BTA):

• In addition to being known as "Bertoua Airport", another name for BTA is "Bertoua Airport (Bertoua)".
• The closest airport to Bertoua Airport (BTA) is Batouri Airport (OUR), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) E of BTA.
• Bertoua Airport (BTA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Bertoua Airport (BTA) is Canton Island Airport (CIS), which is nearly antipodal to Bertoua Airport (meaning Bertoua Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Canton Island Airport), and is located 12,043 miles (19,381 kilometers) away in Canton Island, Kiribati.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
• 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.
• 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 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities.
• 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.
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• In August, after the Soviet Union declared war against the Japanese Empire, B-24s were dispatched on reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions to observe the Russian activity in the Kuriles.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.