Nonstop flight route between Fukuoka, Japan and Detroit, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fukuoka Airport (FUK), Fukuoka, Japan and Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP), Detroit, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,773 miles (or 10,900 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 Willow Run Airport (YIP), 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 Willow Run Airport (YIP). 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.
• In addition to being known as "Fukuoka Airport", other names for FUK include "福岡空港" and "Fukuoka KūkōItazuke Air Base".
• Fukuoka Airport, formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located 1.6 NM east of Hakata Station in in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.
• 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.
• During the 1950s, the 8th flew the F-86 Sabre for air defense of Japan and South Korea, being upgraded to the new F-100 Super Sabre in 1956.
• By early 1949, reconstruction of Itazuke was complete along the construction of long jet runways.
• The airport was built in 1943 by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force as Mushiroda Airfield.
• The closest airport to Fukuoka Airport (FUK) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SSW of FUK.
• Fukuoka Airport (FUK) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP):

• Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) has 4 runways.
• By fall 1944 Willow Run had moved from the B-24L to the B-24M, the last Liberator to be built in significant numbers.
• The furthest airport from Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,276 miles (18,147 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Once production began, it became difficult to introduce changes dictated by field experience in the various overseas theaters onto the production line in a timely fashion.
• The closest airport to Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) is Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) E of YIP.
• Almost all of Detroit's scheduled airline flights used Willow Run until 1958, when the coming of the Jet Age drove traffic to the Romulus airfield, which had that year been renamed Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and offered carriers the promise of more efficient and modern operations, with a brand-new terminal designed for the new aircraft, a newly expanded runway configuration and state-of-the-art approach controls that made it the first inland airport in the country certified for commercial jet operations.
• While the planes were being serviced and made ready for overseas movement, personnel for these planes were also being processed.
• The first Ford-built Liberators rolled off the Willow Run line in September 1942.
• Because of Willow Run Airport (YIP)'s relatively low elevation of 716 feet, planes can take off or land at Willow Run Airport (YIP) 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.
• Opened in 1942, "Willow Run" was synonymous with the American industrial effort that contributed so much to Allied victory in World War II.
• Although the airfield itself and the buildings to the east of the runways had been built on Henry Ford's personal property, it is unclear how the parcels across the county line that became the site of the bomber plant were assembled.