Nonstop flight route between Yamagata, Honshū, Japan and Sacramento, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Yamagata Airport (GAJ), Yamagata, Honshū, Japan and Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Sacramento, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,000 miles (or 8,047 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 Yamagata Airport and Sacramento International Airport, 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 Yamagata Airport and Sacramento International Airport. 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 Yamagata Airport (GAJ):

• Yamagata Airport (GAJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Yamagata Airport's relatively low elevation of 345 feet, planes can take off or land at Yamagata 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.
• Yamagata Airport is a 2nd-class airport in Higashine, Yamagata, Japan.
• In addition to being known as "Yamagata Airport", another name for GAJ is "山形空港".
• During the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, American troops used Yamagata Airport as a base for transporting fuel and materials to the disaster areas.
• The furthest airport from Yamagata Airport (GAJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,606 miles (18,679 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Yamagata Airport (GAJ) is Sendai Airport (SDJ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) ESE of GAJ.

Facts about Sacramento International Airport (SMF):

• California Pacific Airlines hopes to fly between Sacramento and Carlsbad in southern California in 2013.
• Sacramento International Airport handled 8,910,570 passengers last year.
• Sacramento County has tried to entice Virgin America into adding a Los Angeles route by giving them 400,000 dollars to operate out of terminal A or 150,000 dollars to operate in terminal B.
• In 2006 Sacramento International Airport was one of the first airports in the nation to offer free wireless Internet service.
• In 2011 the airport carried an estimated 9 million passengers.
• The furthest airport from Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,280 miles (18,154 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Because of Sacramento International Airport's relatively low elevation of 27 feet, planes can take off or land at Sacramento International 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.
• The closest airport to Sacramento International Airport (SMF) is Sacramento Airport McClellan Airfield (MCC), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of SMF.
• The airport was a focus city for ExpressJet Airlines which independently operated Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets on point-to-point, "hub bypass" routes.
• The consolidated rental car terminal, the first of its kind in the nation, gave all rental car customers a single point of access that could be reached on a single shuttle.
• Sacramento International Airport (SMF) has 2 runways.
• On June 7, 2006, plans were announced to replace the aging Terminal B with a brand new terminal by the year 2012.