Nonstop flight route between Huntsville / Decatur, Alabama, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Huntsville International Airport (HSV), Huntsville / Decatur, Alabama, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,704 miles (or 7,570 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 Huntsville International 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 Huntsville International 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 Huntsville International Airport (HSV):

• Huntsville International Airport is served by four airlines representing the three international airline alliances.
• Because of Huntsville International Airport's relatively low elevation of 629 feet, planes can take off or land at Huntsville 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.
• This airport is in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which called it a primary commercial service airport.Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 612,690 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 572,767 in 2009 and 606,127 in 2010.
• The furthest airport from Huntsville International Airport (HSV) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,189 miles (18,008 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In November 1967 Eastern scheduled nine departures each weekday from the then new airport while United had four and Southern operated 17.
• Huntsville International Airport (HSV) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Huntsville International Airport", another name for HSV is "Carl T. Jones Field".
• The closest airport to Huntsville International Airport (HSV) is Redstone Army Airfield (AAF) (HUA), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) ENE of HSV.
• The airport's "Fly Huntsville" jingle encourages passengers to depart from Huntsville instead of driving to Birmingham or Nashville.
• In 1989, Huntsville International became the first airport in the United States to install an ASR-9 dual-channel airport surveillance radar system.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• On 6 April 1993, Shemya Air Force Base was renamed Eareckson Air Station.
• The base host squadron was re-designated the 5073rd Air Base Squadron on October 1962, and upgraded to a group on 15 October 1974 in recognition of the number and complexities of the tenant units it supported.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Additional aircraft and personnel reductions occurred in 1945 and almost all air bases other than Alexi Point, Shemya and Davis in the Aleutians were reduced to caretaker status.
• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.
• 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.