Nonstop flight route between Hickory, North Carolina, United States and Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hickory Regional Airport (HKY), Hickory, North Carolina, United States and Ishigaki Airport (ISG), Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,962 miles (or 12,813 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 Hickory Regional Airport and Ishigaki 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 Hickory Regional Airport and Ishigaki 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 Hickory Regional Airport (HKY):

• In 1960, the base of operations for the airport was moved from the south side of the field when the new terminal building was constructed.
• The closest airport to Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Foothills Regional Airport (MRN), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) WNW of HKY.
• Local officials hope to attract future commercial airline service, despite challenges caused by the relatively close proximity of the large Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.
• The Hickory Municipal Airport was first opened to aircraft traffic on May 17, 1940.
• The airport terminal building, which was built in 1960, has served as a hub for commerce and transportation for more than 40 years.
• Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Hickory Regional Airport (HKY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,494 miles (18,499 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On August 2, 1941, Pennsylvania Central Airlines which later became Capital Airlines, brought the first scheduled air-carrier service to Hickory.

Facts about Ishigaki Airport (ISG):

• The furthest airport from Ishigaki Airport (ISG) is Guaraní International Airport (AGT), which is nearly antipodal to Ishigaki Airport (meaning Ishigaki Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Guaraní International Airport), and is located 12,339 miles (19,858 kilometers) away in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.
• Because of Ishigaki Airport's relatively low elevation of 86 feet, planes can take off or land at Ishigaki 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.
• None of the 138 passengers and crew were killed in the accident, but 67 were injured.
• The closest airport to Ishigaki Airport (ISG) is Hateruma Airport (HTR), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) SW of ISG.
• In addition to being known as "Ishigaki Airport", other names for ISG include "石垣空港" and "Ishigaki Kūkō".
• Ishigaki Airport (ISG) currently has only 1 runway.
• Southwest Air Lines Flight 611 took off on runway 36 from Naha Airport on the island of Okinawa at 13:09 for a regular flight to Ishigaki Airport, Japan.
• The new airport has a 2,000 m runway, expandable to 2,500 m.