Nonstop flight route between Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Bethel, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Bethel Airport (BET), Bethel, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,987 miles (or 6,417 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 Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō and Bethel 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 Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō and Bethel 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 Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA):

• On 7 June 1946, Headquarters Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to MacDill AAF, Florida.
• Twentieth Air Force became the command and control organization for Kadena on 16 May 1949.
• The Korean War emphasized the need for maintaining a naval presence in Okinawa.
• The closest airport to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Naha Airport (OKA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of DNA.
• The furthest airport from Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (meaning Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• During the 1968 Pueblo crisis, the 18th deployed between January and June to Osan Air Base, South Korea following the North Korean seizure of the vessel.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".
• Since November 1954, the 18th Wing under various designations has been the main United States Air Force operational unit at Kadena.
• Kadena Air Base, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

Facts about Bethel Airport (BET):

• Bethel Airport (BET) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Bethel Airport (BET) is Bethel Seaplane Base (JBT), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) E of BET.
• Because of Bethel Airport's relatively low elevation of 126 feet, planes can take off or land at Bethel 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.
• Bethel Airport is a state owned, public use airport located three nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Bethel, a city in the Bethel Census Area of the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Bethel Airport", other names for BET include "(former Bethel Air Base)" and "(former Todd Army Airfield)".
• The furthest airport from Bethel Airport (BET) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,584 miles (17,034 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Bethel Airport covers an area of 1,056 acres at an elevation of 126 feet above mean sea level.