Nonstop flight route between Buraidah, Saudi Arabia and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (ELQ), Buraidah, Saudi Arabia and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,214 miles (or 10,001 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 Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional 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 Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional 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 Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (ELQ):

• The closest airport to Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (ELQ) is Dawadmi Domestic Airport (DWD), which is located 130 miles (209 kilometers) S of ELQ.
• Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (ELQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (ELQ) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is nearly antipodal to Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport (meaning Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Regional Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Totegegie Airport), and is located 12,199 miles (19,632 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• Additional aircraft and personnel reductions occurred in 1945 and almost all air bases other than Alexi Point, Shemya and Davis in the Aleutians were reduced to caretaker status.
• 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 the end of 1944, several hundred American airmen had been interned by the Russians after their crippled aircraft landed on Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
• In 1966 the Air Defense Command 9th Air Division assumed jurisdiction of the base.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.