Nonstop flight route between Ørsta / Volda / Hovden, Møre og Romsdal, Norway and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden (HOV), Ørsta / Volda / Hovden, Møre og Romsdal, Norway and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,472 miles (or 7,197 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 Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden 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 Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden 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 Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden (HOV):

• The furthest airport from Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden (HOV) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,168 miles (17,973 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden (HOV) is Sandane Airport, Anda (SDN), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) S of HOV.
• Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden handled 99,470 passengers last year.
• Because of Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden's relatively low elevation of 243 feet, planes can take off or land at Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden 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 addition to being known as "Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden", another name for HOV is "Ørsta–Volda lufthamn, Hovden".

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
• With the exception of a small station housekeeping unit, Shemya was abandoned after the war.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• With the successful completion of the Aleutian Campaign in August 1943, Eleventh Air Force came within striking distance of the Japanese Kurile Islands, the northernmost being 750 miles to the south-southwest of Shemya.
• Jurisdiction of Shemya AFB was transferred from the Aerospace Defense Command to the Strategic Air Command when the former was inactivated on 1 October 1979.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.