Nonstop flight route between Guasopa, Papua New Guinea and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Guasopa Airport (GAZ), Guasopa, Papua New Guinea and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,459 miles (or 7,176 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 Guasopa 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 Guasopa 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 Guasopa Airport (GAZ):

• Guasopa Airport, is an airport at Guasopa on Woodlark Island, in the Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea.
• The closest airport to Guasopa Airport (GAZ) is Misima Airport (MIS), which is located 101 miles (162 kilometers) S of GAZ.
• In addition to being known as "Guasopa Airport", other names for GAZ include "AYGJ" and "Guasopa Airport".
• The furthest airport from Guasopa Airport (GAZ) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is nearly antipodal to Guasopa Airport (meaning Guasopa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from São Filipe Airport), and is located 12,010 miles (19,328 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• It also became a Strategic Air Command refueling site for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and KC-135 tankers as part of Operation Chrome Dome.
• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• The mission of Eleventh Air Force was to take advantage of the new airfields on Shemya and Attu, and carry out offensive operations against the enemy forces in the Kuriles.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In August, after the Soviet Union declared war against the Japanese Empire, B-24s were dispatched on reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions to observe the Russian activity in the Kuriles.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities.