Nonstop flight route between Cayenne, French Guiana and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), Cayenne, French Guiana and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,629 miles (or 12,278 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 Cayenne – Félix Eboué 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 Cayenne – Félix Eboué 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 Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY):

• In 2009, passenger traffic totaled 400,025 passengers compared to 2008 with 385,142 passengers.
• The name of Rochambeau is first attributed in reference Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, commander of the French troops who participated in the American Revolutionary War.
• The furthest airport from Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY) is Pattimura Airport (PTA) (AMQ), which is nearly antipodal to Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (meaning Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Pattimura Airport (PTA)), and is located 12,354 miles (19,882 kilometers) away in Ambon, Indonesia.
• The airport has an elevation of 24 feet above mean sea level.
• Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport's relatively low elevation of 24 feet, planes can take off or land at Cayenne – Félix Eboué 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 closest airport to Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY) is Saül Airport (XAU), which is located 102 miles (163 kilometers) SW of CAY.
• The airfield of Cayenne was built in 1943 in 10 months by the American army who wanted to be able to reach Africa when flying there with its bombers.
• In addition to being known as "Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport", another name for CAY is "Aéroport de Cayenne – Félix Eboué".

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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 mission of Eleventh Air Force was to take advantage of the new airfields on Shemya and Attu, and carry out offensive operations against the enemy forces in the Kuriles.
• The news of the surrender of the Japanese was met with enthusiasm, the biggest topic was "When do we go home?".
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".