Nonstop flight route between Greeley, Colorado, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Greeley-Weld County Airport (GXY), Greeley, Colorado, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,739 miles (or 6,017 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 Greeley-Weld County 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 Greeley-Weld County 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 Greeley-Weld County Airport (GXY):

• Greeley-Weld County Airport (GXY) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Greeley-Weld County Airport (GXY) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,842 miles (17,448 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Greeley-Weld County Airport (GXY) is Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport (FNL), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) W of GXY.
• The airport opened in June, 1944, as Greeley Municipal Airport.
• Because of Greeley-Weld County Airport's high elevation of 4,697 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GXY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GXY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• A second attack by B-24 Liberators was launched from Alexai Point and Shemya on 18 July.
• 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 news of the surrender of the Japanese was met with enthusiasm, the biggest topic was "When do we go home?".
• In 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities.
• 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.
• In August 1988, at least one Aries rocket was launched, relating to the Queen Match program, for anti-ballistic missile testing.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• There is also an NDB, TACAN and a VOR on the island.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.