Nonstop flight route between Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and Yakushima Airport (KUM), Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,209 miles (or 11,602 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 Westover Air Reserve Base and Yakushima Airport, 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 Westover Air Reserve Base and Yakushima Airport. 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 Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF):

• In 1951 Air Defense Command established an air defense interceptor presence at Westover, its units being assigned to the base in a tenant status until the turnover of the base to the Air Force Reserve in 1974.
• The furthest airport from Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,731 miles (18,880 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On 1 February 1946 Westover became an Air Transport Command base which meant that it was the terminus for air routes around the world.
• The mission of Westover was to organize and provide initial training to new combat units.
• Plans for Westover Field were made in 1939 as a result of the Nazi Germany invasion of Poland in 1939.
• The Westover complex serves the "Joint Use" mission of military and civilian cooperation.
• During World War II Westover saw the training and formation of Airborne engineer aviation battalions to be used for rapidly establishing airfields in forward areas.
• The closest airport to Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport (BAF), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) WSW of CEF.
• Numerous Airborne Engineer Aviation battalions were activated and trained at Westover, to include the 871st, 872d, 873d, 877th, 878th, 879th, 880th, and 881st.
• In addition to being known as "Westover Air Reserve Base", another name for CEF is "Westover ARB".

Facts about Yakushima Airport (KUM):

• Yakushima Airport (KUM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Yakushima Airport (KUM) is Salgado Filho International Airport (POA), which is nearly antipodal to Yakushima Airport (meaning Yakushima Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salgado Filho International Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,834 kilometers) away in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Yakushima Airport (KUM) is Kagoshima Airport (KOJ), which is located 98 miles (158 kilometers) N of KUM.
• In addition to being known as "Yakushima Airport", other names for KUM include "屋久島空港" and "Yakushima Kūkō".
• Because of Yakushima Airport's relatively low elevation of 122 feet, planes can take off or land at Yakushima 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.