Nonstop flight route between Windhoek, Namibia and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eros Airport (ERS), Windhoek, Namibia and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,030 miles (or 16,142 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 Eros 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 Eros 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 Eros Airport (ERS):

• Eros is a busy hub of general aviation and one of the busiest airports in the SADC region.
• In addition to being known as "Eros Airport", another name for ERS is "Windhoek Eros Airport".
• The closest airport to Eros Airport (ERS) is Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) ENE of ERS.
• Eros Airport (ERS) has 2 runways.
• Because of Eros Airport's high elevation of 5,575 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ERS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ERS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Eros Airport (ERS) is PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), which is nearly antipodal to Eros Airport (meaning Eros Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from PMRF Barking Sands), and is located 12,232 miles (19,686 kilometers) away in Kekaha, Hawaii, United States.
• Eros Airport or Windhoek Eros Airport is an airport serving Windhoek, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• In 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities.
• 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.
• 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.
• Jurisdiction of Shemya AFB was transferred from the Aerospace Defense Command to the Strategic Air Command when the former was inactivated on 1 October 1979.
• 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.
• There is also an NDB, TACAN and a VOR on the island.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
• 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.