Nonstop flight route between Ankara, Turkey and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Esenboğa International Airport (ESB), Ankara, Turkey and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,614 miles (or 9,034 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 Esenboğa International 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 Esenboğa International 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 Esenboğa International Airport (ESB):

• Esenboğa International Airport handled 10,900,000 passengers last year.
• Esenboğa International Airport (ESB) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Esenboğa International Airport (ESB) is Kastamonu Airport (KFS), which is located 92 miles (148 kilometers) NNE of ESB.
• The name of the airport comes from the village of Esenboğa, which literally means "Windflowing Bull" or "Serene Bull", the modernized form of Isen Buga, the name of a Turkic warlord in the army of Timur who settled his troops here during the Battle of Ankara in 1402.
• A combined domestic and international terminal has recently opened, on October 2006, following two years of construction works.
• The furthest airport from Esenboğa International Airport (ESB) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,188 miles (18,005 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• In addition to being known as "Esenboğa International Airport", another name for ESB is "Esenboğa Uluslararası Havalimanı".

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
• The limited resources assigned to the Eleventh Air Force meant only a limited number of missions could be carried out over the Kuriles.
• 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.
• The base host squadron was re-designated the 5073rd Air Base Squadron on October 1962, and upgraded to a group on 15 October 1974 in recognition of the number and complexities of the tenant units it supported.
• Eareckson Air Station is a United States Air Force military airport located on the island of Shemya, in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands.
• 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.
• By August, Eleventh Air Force B-24s were carrying out successful and accurate attacks on the Japanese military installations and the B-25s were successful in driving the Japanese fishing and much of the shipping out of the North Pacific.
• 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.