Nonstop flight route between Fukuoka, Japan and Abilene, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fukuoka Airport (FUK), Fukuoka, Japan and Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), Abilene, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,825 miles (or 10,983 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 Fukuoka Airport and Dyess Air Force Base, 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 Fukuoka Airport and Dyess Air Force Base. 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 Fukuoka Airport (FUK):

• The furthest airport from Fukuoka Airport (FUK) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Fukuoka Airport (meaning Fukuoka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,253 miles (19,719 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• As of July 2013, the Japanese government is considering building a second 2,800 m parallel runway within the existing airfield at a cost of 180 billion yen, two-thirds of which would be borne by the national government and the remaining third of which would be borne by the local government, but which would be defrayed by selling the rights to operate the airport to a private company.
• The closest airport to Fukuoka Airport (FUK) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SSW of FUK.
• Because of Fukuoka Airport's relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Fukuoka 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.
• Although Fukuoka is known as one of the most convenient airports in Japan, it is constrained both by its inner-city location and by its single runway.
• Fukuoka's first civilian air service was Japan Airlines' Fukuoka-Osaka-Tokyo service, which commenced in 1951.
• In addition to being known as "Fukuoka Airport", other names for FUK include "福岡空港" and "Fukuoka KūkōItazuke Air Base".
• After the 1953 Armistice in Korea, the wartime combat units were slowly withdrawn back to the United States or reassigned to other airfields in Japan and South Korea.
• The 38th Bomb Group remained at Itazuke until October 1946 also during with time several reconstruction units worked on the former IJAAF base rebuilding and constructing new facilities.
• Fukuoka Airport (FUK) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Dyess Air Force Base (DYS):

• The base is named after Lt Col William Edwin Dyess, a native of Albany, Texas, who was captured by the Japanese on Bataan in April 1942.
• Dyess AFB is a 6,409-acre base with over 13,000 military and civilian people.
• With the end of the war, the base was declared inactive on 31 January 1946.
• In addition to being known as "Dyess Air Force Base", another name for DYS is "Dyess AFB".
• The closest airport to Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DYS.
• The furthest airport from Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,080 miles (17,831 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Units stationed at Dyess Air Force Base while the 5/517th was operational included SAC's 819th Strategic Aerospace Division, the 96th BW, and the 578th Strategic Missile Squadron.
• In 1942, the United States Army Air Forces built Tye Army Air Field, as it was popularly known, on the site of what is now known as Dyess AFB.