Nonstop flight route between Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan and Diomede, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between New Chitose Airport (CTS), Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan and Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO), Diomede, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,443 miles (or 3,932 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 relatively short distance between New Chitose Airport and Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2), the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about New Chitose Airport (CTS):

• Along with Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport in Russia, it is one of the closest Asian airports to North America along the great circle route used by transpacific flights, and is therefore an ideal refueling stop for many heavy cargo flights between Asia and North America.
• In addition to being known as "New Chitose Airport", other names for CTS include "Sapporo/New Chitose Airport", "新千歳空港" and "Shin-Chitose Kūkō".
• New Chitose Airport (CTS) has 4 runways.
• New Chitose Airport Station is located on a spur off the Chitose Line of Hokkaido Railway Company.
• The furthest airport from New Chitose Airport (CTS) is Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport (PDP), which is located 11,383 miles (18,319 kilometers) away in Maldonado/Punta del Este, Maldonado, Uruguay.
• Operating hours for international flights at CTS are restricted by the Japanese government in order to avoid interference with JASDF operations at the adjacent air base.
• The closest airport to New Chitose Airport (CTS) is Asahikawa Airport (AKJ), which is located 73 miles (117 kilometers) NNE of CTS.
• Because of New Chitose Airport's relatively low elevation of 70 feet, planes can take off or land at New Chitose 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 airport's IATA airport code was originally SPK.

Facts about Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO):

• An electric system was built on the island in the 1970s and electricity is provided by city-operated Diomede Joint Utilities.
• Little Diomede Island is located about 25 miles west from the mainland, in the middle of the Bering Strait.
• At the beginning of the Cold War in the late 1940s Big Diomede became a Russian military base and all its native residents were removed to mainland Russia.
• Frozen ground and lack of soil on the rocky island also prevents digging graves, but rocks are piled on top of the burial sites instead.
• During the Nome gold rush at the turn of the 19th century, Diomede villagers traveled to Nome along with the gold seekers, even though Nome was not a native village.
• Because of Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2)'s relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) 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 Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO) is Wales Airport (WAA), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) ESE of DIO.
• The furthest airport from Diomede Heliport (FAA: DM2) (DIO) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,411 miles (16,755 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• The location of the city is believed to have been used for at least 3,000 years as a hunting campsite.
• The first non-native to reach the Diomede Islands was a Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev in 1648.
• According to Arthur Ahkinga, who lived on Little Diomede island at the turn of the 1940s, the Iñupiat on the island made their living by hunting and carving ivory which they traded or sold.